Three members of a group opposed to a shooting range just outside of Pittsboro will meet with the range’s owner on Wednesday to discuss their differences, according to information from a spokesperson for Defending Chatham Neighborhoods.
That spokesperson, Chatham County resident Tony Gaeta, is an adjunct UNC law professor, and an attorney practicing in Raleigh.
DCN is a group of more than 130 signers of a petition to shut down Range 2A. They say they’re concerned about noise, stray bullets, and a potential decline in property values. Range 2A opened in late May, on 71 acres off of Silk Hope Gum Springs Road.
It’s a membership-based business that offers military-style tactical training. Tensions arose immediately between owner Mark Atkeson and his next-door neighbor Siglinda Scarpa, the owner of Goathouse Refuge, a cat sanctuary with more than 200 felines.
Scarpa complained about the noise and potential danger from gunfire. After a shooting test by the Chatham County Sheriff’s Dept registered above allowable decibel levels, Range 2A shut down for a while. Atkeson promised to create more buffers around his eight shooting bays, in hopes of re-opening in the fall.
Since then, neighborhood opposition has grown, as well as support from gun rights advocates. Gaeta and his group are threatening to sue Atkeson for creating a “nuisance.”
Atkeson may also be facing hefty county fines for unauthorized soil disturbance on his property.
Gaeta said he’s not one of the three neighbors attending Wednesday’s meeting between opposing parties. He told WCHL in late August that if he ever met Atkeson, his message would be: “Shut down the range. This is the wrong place for it.”
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