Residents, officials spar over proposed Fairview police training facility near Bowie Nature Park

Dozens of residents and city officials spent more than two hours debating a proposed police training facility and live-fire range planned for a 24.7-acre outparcel adjacent to Bowie Nature Park, with speakers raising safety, noise, environmental and property-value concerns and officials saying the city needs a larger training space for officers.

The amended city budget includes $750,000 earmarked for a police training facility, and city officials said that amount was placed in the budget as an allocation, not as final approval to spend. City Manager Tom Daugherty said the next step is a Planning Commission site-plan review; if the final build-out exceeds the $750,000 set aside, commissioners said they would have to approve any additional funds.

Why it matters: The parcel in question was donated to expand Bowie Nature Park and neighbors, many of whom live just outside the city limits, told commissioners they view the land as parkland and oppose live firing nearby. Opponents also cited possible deed restrictions, the potential effect on horses and livestock, and the chance that frequent gunfire would degrade public use of the park.

Residents who live near the proposed site described fear of…