Planning commission upholds grandfathered status for Fox Range; denies neighbor appeal 10-0

The Fairbanks North Star Borough Planning Commission on Dec. 16, 2025, denied an appeal by Joel McGill Tapia challenging the administrative hearing officer’s determination that the Fox Range, a private outdoor shooting facility at 2435 Steese Highway, qualifies for legal nonconforming use status. The motion to deny the appeal passed unanimously, 10-0, effectively upholding GR2026-9 and the planning staff’s findings.

Community planning director and hearing officer Kellen Spellman told commissioners the grandfather-rights analysis turns on whether the shooting range use existed before the borough adopted shooting-range regulations on Jan. 28, 2016, and whether later changes altered the “quality or character” of the use. Spellman summarized aerial photos and applicant-supplied images from 2012–2015 and said the administrative hearing found commercial shooting and organized matches were taking place before the 2016 rules. “Grandfather rights are extremely fact based,” Spellman said,…