Smyth County planning commission unanimously recommends special-use permit for law-enforcement shooting range

The Smyth County Planning Commission voted unanimously Thursday to recommend that the Board of Supervisors approve a special-use permit to build an outdoor law-enforcement firing range at the county transfer station at 1042 Highway 107 in Chilhowitz.

The recommendation follows a county presentation of an application and a series of public and staff remarks on safety, noise and operational controls. Chris, the county zoning administrator, told the commission the county submitted the required application, affidavit, site plan and fee and published legal notices in accordance with Virginia Code §15.2-2204. The parcel was described in the hearing record using tax-map references on file (transcript cites both "53-8-99" and an alternative reference in the legal notice). The county described the site as the former landfill area at the transfer station and said the property is in an agricultural-rural district where outdoor ranges are allowed with a special-use permit.

Smyth County law-enforcement instructors said the range would be used primarily by the Smyth…