A plan to turn a Stillwater furniture building into an indoor shooting range has come under fire from several residents who contend that the project could lead to noise and traffic problems and depressed property values.
Two Stillwater citizens filed appeals with the city last month in hopes of generating more discussion about the Minnesota Shooting Academy's plan to buy the Simonet's Furniture Outlet Building on Curve Crest Boulevard and convert it to 14-lane indoor shooting range for public and law enforcement use. The range would include retail space, a lounge and training rooms.
A public hearing on the project is scheduled for Aug. 18 before the Stillwater City Council.
The city Planning Commission approved the project July 8 by a 5-3 vote (with one abstention) after granting the academy a special-use permit and variances.
But in appealing that decision, Melissa Douglas said that commission members did not have sufficient information to allow full evaluation of the proposal. Douglas, who has been a city planner in Shoreview and Woodbury and performed consulting work for the city of Stillwater, said she filed her appeal as a resident of the city and not in a professional capacity.
Douglas wrote that shooting ranges "may impose negative impacts upon adjoining land owners, nearby residents and the broader community, including noise, lead pollution, depressed property values and even potentially physical harm."
She also wrote that the neighborhood where the range would be built is not zoned for such use.
Douglas cited a provision of the city code that defines a shooting range as a commercial-recreational use of property. The Simonet's building, however, is situated in a business park-office district and is near Abrahamson Nurseries, Arrow Building Center, Brine's Market, Haskell's and Stillwater Veterinary Clinic.