Wake County Range closed .... Post closing.

What I heard was the Wildlife people said it could be a couple months for decisions and the reopening. Please take this with a grain of salt as it is what I heard.
 
Knowing what politicians do.....I believe it will be a shell of what it once was. They may open it again but it will be closed permanently to the public eventually in my opinion. The left runs Wake County and they want guns to be gone. What you see happening in VA, is not that far off in NC.
 
In my opinion, if they ever close the range to the public we should organize some sort of class action against the county. The range was built PRIMARILY for the benefit of the public. Any exclusion of the public from the range in the future should be actionable on some level.
 
dmarbell said:
In my opinion, if they ever close the range to the public we should organize some sort of class action against the county. The range was built PRIMARILY for the benefit of the public. Any exclusion of the public from the range in the future should be actionable on some level.
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I'm new here so I don't know anything surrounding the history or issues being discussed here, but public resources built and supported with public funds (your taxes) need to remain public accessible. Not sure if your critters down here utilize eminent domain (read government land grab), but watch for things to get condemned on the property due to lead or similar...that's a clue that they intend to sell the land. Once that happens they can sell it at a discount to a developer who will "clean up the hazard" before erecting a low income housing high rise full of Section 8 types. This is how things worked in my old AO.
 
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Timfoilhat said:
I'm new here so I don't know anything surrounding the history or issues being discussed here, but public resources built and supported with public funds (your taxes) need to remain public accessible. Not sure if your critters down here utilize eminent domain (read government land grab), but watch for things to get condemned on the property due to lead or similar...that's a clue that they intend to sell the land. Once that happens they can sell it at a discount to a developer who will "clean up the hazard" before erecting a low income housing high rise full of Section 8 types. This is how things worked in my old AO.
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lol there aint no developer in wake co who wants to build S8. if anything they'll build "luxury" apartments.
 
mhuxtable said:
lol there aint no developer in wake co who wants to build S8. if anything they'll build "luxury" apartments.
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There is a huge PUD planned for much of the land surrounding the county property. My opinion is that even if the Sheriff get's his dream LETC, once the area becomes more developed, the new neighbors (read carpetbaggers) will begin the complaints about noise and guns. The county will bend to pressure and sell the property.
 
Miss Lily said:
There is a huge PUD planned for much of the land surrounding the county property. My opinion is that even if the Sheriff get's his dream LETC, once the area becomes more developed, the new neighbors (read carpetbaggers) will begin the complaints about noise and guns. The county will bend to pressure and sell the property.
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I don't want to "like" this, but I agree with it. If that housing development that is just up the road had been there before the facility was build instead of coming after, I seriously doubt it would have been constructed there in the first place.
 
Timfoilhat said:
I'm new here so I don't know anything surrounding the history or issues being discussed here, but public resources built and supported with public funds (your taxes) need to remain public accessible. Not sure if your critters down here utilize eminent domain (read government land grab), but watch for things to get condemned on the property due to lead or similar...that's a clue that they intend to sell the land. Once that happens they can sell it at a discount to a developer who will "clean up the hazard" before erecting a low income housing high rise full of Section 8 types. This is how things worked in my old AO.
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Timfoil........ I know it is a long read but go back to the beginning of the thread and read through. There is good information there regarding the history of the range, dating back many years. I have never been there but it is my understanding that the range is basically all indoors. Not many places can claim a 100 yard indoor range. When it reopens, I certainly plan to make a trip there just to see it. The citizens of Wake Co. have something to be very proud of and I commend them for fighting hard for it.
 
Latest update just came in via email:

WCFETC Members and Students,


I’m writing you today to provide you with an update on the Wake County range public closure. Over the past several weeks since I wrote last, there has been a significant amount of activity. There are things that have started to become clear and I wanted to keep you updated.


First, we have established a website to post ongoing information and provide updates. The site name is www.wakerange.com. You can subscribe and receive periodic emails with updated information. I will continue to send periodic emails but I encourage you to subscribe.


Current Status:


  1. It appears that the Wake County Commissioners (WCC) are moving in the direction of giving operational management to the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC). This information comes from two sources. First, in the last WCC’s working session, the only option that was proposed and discussed was an agreement with NCWRC. Second, personal contacts with both the WCC and NCWRC confirm this focus.
  2. Several of us met last Monday with NCWRC to offer our assistance with their efforts to reopen the range. The meeting was very well received by all and we are in the process of gathering and providing operational data to NCWRC for their management proposal to the WCCs.
  3. We expect NCWRC to make a presentation of their management proposal at the next WCC working session on February 10. Based on the outcome of the presentation, the WCCs may vote on awarding a management agreement to NCWRC at the WCC regular meeting on February 17.
  4. Once the contract is finalized, NCWRC will begin the process of taking management control of the range and reopening it to the public. The timeline for this activity is not known.
  5. Indications are that NCWRC will focus first on reopening the range for public shooting and later address re-establishing the education programs and leagues.



What we are doing:


  1. We will continue to work as close as possible with NCWRC to facilitate their being awarded the facility management and re-open the range.
  2. Several of us will attend both the upcoming WCC working session and regular meeting.
  3. Due to the implied delay in re-establishing the education program, we are considering providing offsite training covering the Wake Range education program. Stand by for more information on this effort.

Thanks for your continuing support as we work through this issue. Feel free to reach out with any questions and I will respond as quickly as possible.




John Neblett


WCFETC Instructor and Range Officer
 
So help me out understanding the government entities in play. The WCC is basically the county government board. The NCWRC is like a state wide trees and animal preserve caretaker?

My concern is based in what I've seen happen quite literally in my old backyard.
My old neighborhood had a huge cornfield behind it that was owned by a family that also owned the golf course at the far end of the field. The golf course people are getting old and want to sell of the land to a developer. They begin the process of having it annexed to the city and re-zoned from Rural to Suburban Multi Family housing. Their plan was to get the zoning done then erect a high-rise for "affordable housing". BUT their plan was foiled. The same land harbored an underground spring that drained into a wetland called a hanging fen. The hanging fen is the last and largest of it's type in all of Illinois. The entity that manages wildlife and forest land is called a forest preserve district (FPD) and they have conservationists, botanists and biologists as well as police in their employ. The FPD controlled the fen and had been trying to buy the field for years so they could protect the water source that fed the fen. The golf course owners wouldn't sell the land as a field, and given the new zoning compliments of city hall the potential value of the land tripled. The FPD is bound by law from overpaying for land and they needed to stop the development...paving over the field would disrupt the fen and the winter road salt draining that would accompany the development of the land would kill what's left.
The FPD went to court. They had the land condemned. They then went in and bought a postage stamp sized portion of it right in the middle and left the rest of it with the golf course owners. Now it's impossible to develop.
Now I didn't want that development in my backyard. I wanted to retain my view of pheasants and deer, not look at a parking lot and beater cars...but at the same time a government land grab harmed the land owner permanently and left them with less than they started with.

I also used to be a member of a club/range that was forced out by development. The new neighbors "found lead" and called the EPA. We had outstanding people running the club who begged and borrowed enough money to move the whole club to a larger space further away from the developments. That was like 8 years ago. We're still paying an assessment for remediation at the old club land.
Now at the new club the neighbor 3/4 mile north of the 600 yard range claims he found a bullet in his driveway. He hasn't ever produced this bullet, but he sued to shut us down...that's being litigated still so I can't say more.

What are the chances the NCWRC are going to betray the club?
 
Miss Lily said:
There is a huge PUD planned for much of the land surrounding the county property. My opinion is that even if the Sheriff get's his dream LETC, once the area becomes more developed, the new neighbors (read carpetbaggers) will begin the complaints about noise and guns. The county will bend to pressure and sell the property.
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Watching the housing sprawl that's moved that way just over the last 5 years, it would take little imagination that that land would become too valuable and "have to" be sold for development in short order.
 
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Jayne said:
Watching the housing sprawl that's moved that way just over the last 5 years, it would take little imagination that that land would become too valuable and "have to" be sold for development in short order.
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Yeah, regardless of Sheriff Half-Baked, the range will sooner or later be doomed by enema domain.
 
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