St. Tammany Parish Zoning Commission permits new shooting range

[geeck]

St. Tammany Parish Zoning Commission permits new shooting range
By Christine Harvey, The Times-Picayune
May 06, 2010, 4:18PM

A landowner in far northern St. Tammany Parish plans to offer long-range shooting opportunities in the bed of what used to be a lake at a range that appears to be like any other within hundreds of miles.

Ernest V. Richards IV and his family, who live on the site, plan to operate the range on 1,100 acres between Lee and Middle roads, and Louisiana Tung Road and the Washington Parish border.

The range will include the long-range course, which will be 1,000 yards long and inside a lake bed that is 15 to 20 feet deep, plus other, shorter ranges at ground level and a 5,000-square foot "shooting house" that will house classroom instruction and training, said Jeff Schoen, the attorney representing the Richards family.

The isolated site is at least a mile from any other homes and separated from them by dense woods, he said. The Weyerhauser Co. owns the adjacent land just across the Washington Parish line, and Schoen said officials there have no objection to the plans.

People who come to the range must show credentials or certifications to shoot, or they must participate in the training offered by the range, before they are allowed to shoot, Schoen said.

He noted that the family does not believe any ranges with this variety of activities exists within 500 miles of the site.

The St. Tammany Parish Zoning Commission approved the plans for the range this week when it granted Bermuda Range LLC a conditional use permit for the activity. The permit is contingent on the business having a qualified range master on the long-range course when people are shooting and on there being no expansion of the range beyond what is currently planned, Schoen said.

 

[jgreco15]

awesome

 

[whbonney26]

That sounds like it will be a nice place to shoot. Glad to see someone going to offer long range here in St. Tammany Parish.

 

[Turpin Ta]

Make no mistake, Greg and Destin have their stuff together. They run a first class operation.

 

[jms]

Sometimes I am a little slow , People who come to the range must show credentials or certifications to shoot, or they must participate in the training offered by the range, before they are allowed to shoot, Schoen said.

What exactly are those credendials?

 

[zero_one]

Toooo Awesome =P

 

[geeck]

Sometimes I am a little slow , People who come to the range must show credentials or certifications to shoot, or they must participate in the training offered by the range, before they are allowed to shoot, Schoen said.

What exactly are those credendials?

Allot of the "Long Range" ranges I have shot at have required some sort
qualifications before turning folks loose... I believe Palo Alto is one of them

 

[spanky]

Sometimes I am a little slow , People who come to the range must show credentials or certifications to shoot, or they must participate in the training offered by the range, before they are allowed to shoot, Schoen said.

What exactly are those credendials?

Knowing how not to shoot over the berm, probably. Palo Alto is the same way.

 

[Nolacopusmc]

Sometimes I am a little slow , People who come to the range must show credentials or certifications to shoot, or they must participate in the training offered by the range, before they are allowed to shoot, Schoen said.

What exactly are those credentials?

The article was riddled with inaccuracies says the owners.

Greg advised it will be members only and members will have to go through their Range Safety course. After that, you will have unrestricted access (based on membership level) to the range, including a members only pistol and a rifle range.

More details to follow as project steams along.

 

[Tulse Luper]

Greg advised it will be members only and members will have to go through their Range Safety course. After that, you will have unrestricted access (based on membership level) to the range, including a members only pistol and a rifle range.

That is good news.

 

[dzelenka]

NOLACop is correct. I had the same conversation.

Palo Alto works the same way.

Credentials would be like these:

 

[mineralman55]

I cannot wait. Is there an expected time of opening, and is there anything we can do to help things along?

 

[Nolacopusmc]

I cannot wait. Is there an expected time of opening, and is there anything we can do to help things along?

priority is getting the building made and the next two 100 yards ranges done. based on what I was told. I am GUESSING POTENTIALLY open to members in 6-12 months.

 

[jms]

Anyone, Is there some idea what membership might cost? Maybe there will be a volunteer program as I am very close to that location.

 

[Nolacopusmc]

Anyone, Is there some idea what membership might cost? Maybe there will be a volunteer program as I am very close to that location.

All information will be forthcoming.

please be patient.

It will be a tiered system with different membership rates for different privileges.

 

[jms]

Thanks Nolacopusmc ,Semper Fi

 

[Akajun]

NOLACop is correct. I had the same conversation.

Palo Alto works the same way.

Credentials would be like these:

Confetti???

What does the competition aka Highpower/f class/palma outlook look like?

 

[mineralman55]

please be patient.

What's the old saying? "Patience my a$$, I'm gonna..."

Well, nothing that drastic but this is such good news.

 

[dzelenka]

Confetti???

What does the competition aka Highpower/f class/palma outlook look like?

The KD range will have 20 firing points and the appropriate firing lines to handle everything from across the course to Palma. Of course this would include F Class, mid range, full bore, and long range capability. The more important question will be who will run the matches. Across the course highpower almost ended at Palo Alto about 5 years ago for lack of interest and participation. Jay Hunt and I took over as match directors and it is now one of the best programs anywhere. The fact that the AMU has shot there for the last 3 years is proof of that since they absolutely will not tolerate a poorly run match. Achieving this has required a substantial amount of work. The new range will need to find a match director or directors if it wants to succeed. If not, it won't even get off of the ground for competitive highpower shooting. I am certain this also holds true for all other disciplines.

 

[vsound]

Are they going to be open to the idea of multigun/practical/tactical type shooting and matches?