Town Council Votes to Request Return of Property

BY NICOLE BOWMAN-LAYTON

EDENTON – The Edenton Town Council voted unanimously Monday, Nov. 10, 2025, to request that the Edenton-Chowan Partnership return ownership of a local firing range to the town, effectively ending plans for a commercial gun range that had drawn opposition from area residents.

The decision came after 11 residents spoke against the proposed facility during public comment at the November 10 council meeting held in council chambers on South Broad Street. Many expressed concerns about noise, safety, property values and quality of life impacts from a proposed shooting range.

More about the council meeting can be found in a separate article by clicking here.

The council approved sending an official letter to the Edenton-Chowan Partnership requesting the return of the property, located near Northeastern Regional Airport. It has historically been used as a shooting range, most recently by local law enforcement agencies and those hosting concealed-carry classes. If approved by the partnership board, the range would continue to be used exclusively by the Edenton Police Department and Chowan County Sheriff’s Office for training purposes.

Councilmembers Patrick Sellers (at-large) and Elton Bond (4th Ward) did not attend the meeting.

Community Opposition

Residents from several neighborhoods near the range — including Cape Colony, Edenton Bay, Montpelier, Bella Vista and Country Club Drive — packed the council chambers to voice their opposition to expanding the facility’s use.

Lisa Laws opened the public comment by raising concerns about communication and transparency. A stage 4 cancer survivor with epilepsy, AFib and diabetes, Laws said she learned about the proposal through a neighborhood Facebook post.

“I hope that in the future the communications about important things … you will think of the people who don’t go on Facebook, the people who may not have an internet connection,” Laws said. She urged officials to consider residents’ health, happiness and quality of life in their decisions.

Ed Stiver from Edenton Bay Plantation questioned the partnership’s transparency, noting he had asked repeatedly about the range but was told information was confidential.

“When I looked at their bylaws, Article 2, Item 12, they’re supposed to have transparency just like the town and county have,” Stiver said. “I’m just not feeling that…honesty and the trust and the transparency from our government bodies that we should expect.”

Karen Hatfield, who lives two-tenths of a mile from the range, told the council through tears about personal losses including her grandson’s drowning death in May 2024.

“Ever since the funeral … I came home, I’ve been there ever since. I have a hard time breathing. That’s my safe place, my refuge,” Hatfield said of her home.

While supporting law enforcement use, she strongly opposes daily public operations. “Please have (Edenton-Chowan Partnership) hand it back to you guys and give us some peace of mind and leave my safe place the way it is.”

Lynn Partin, who has lived in her home for over four decades, emphasized the difference between current sporadic use and the proposed expansion.

“We support the law enforcement using it infrequently. We are strongly opposed to a public gun range operating seven days and some nights during the week,” Partin said. “Please think of the children that are growing up hearing gunshots … especially on the weekends, Saturday, when families are together at home.”

Linda Sutton, a seventh-grade English teacher who lives two-tenths of a mile from the range, spoke about the need for quiet after long workdays.

“Gunfire is not just a background sound that you can tune out. It cuts through the walls of your home and destroys your peace,” Sutton said. She also raised concerns about property values: “Our homes are our biggest investment: We have saved for them, we poured time and energy and resources into them. … Placing a gun range near them threatens that stability.”

Jonathan Tobias noted the dramatic increase in usage the proposal represented.

“We have no problem at all with the gun range in its current usage,” Tobias said, but emphasized that expanding from several times per month to six days per week, seven hours per day represents “a 20-fold increase over present usage.”

He noted that many residents are retirees, some are military veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and others suffer from health conditions like epilepsy. “Please do the neighborly thing. Preserve the current arrangement under the police department oversight. Once the quiet is gone, we can never recover it.”

Joseph Angelucci, drawing on his background in various fields, outlined the need for comprehensive ordinances if the sale were to proceed.

“Currently, the town does not have a mechanism to issue permits, license zone, or approve design construction for an outdoor range,” Angelucci said.

He detailed the need for regulations covering safety buffers, proximity to residential areas and churches, operating hours, range safety officer requirements, and liability insurance. “These are high risk activities. As such, the financial and legal costs of these events of an accident would protect the town from any uninsured damages.”

Erin Lambert, a gun owner who supports gun rights, clarified the current status of the facility.

“It is a practice facility for law enforcement. It’s not a gun range, it’s not really open,” Lambert said.

She noted that all four lots in the area are zoned industrial, with no non-conforming use permits issued for a gun range.

We’re talking about a change in use to basically a public private gun range,” Lambert said, warning that such a change would open the town to “private nuisance suits, noise challenges, all kinds of things.” She questioned whether environmental impact studies had been conducted and urged the town to either take the property back or require a substantial bond to protect the community.

Retired Air Force Special Operations Colonel Bill Ross provided technical perspective on the ballistics involved, handing council members a paper-sized version of a poster he made detailing the effective and maximum ranges of various firearms.

“The ballistic range of a handgun is 1,500 yards. The (Fountain of Life) church is 700 feet away,” Ross said, noting that someone had found a bullet hole in the church roof. He warned that with long rifles having a maximum effective range of 500 yards and the plan calling for 100-yard shooting, “all some wacko has to do is aim over the berm because there’s no roof and spray at Cape Colony (subdivision).”

Prospective Buyer’s Defense

Ron Haight, who proposed purchasing and modernizing the facility, defended his plan during the public comment period. A former federal law enforcement officer with 10 years of experience and advanced weapons training, Haight said his proposal would address serious safety and environmental concerns at the aging facility.

“When I visited the shooting range for my concealed carry class, it was clear that the site needed serious improvement,” Haight said. “Frankly, I wouldn’t want to live next to the range as it is currently. There’s no security access control. The impact berm is unmanaged and outdated. The range does not meet modern safety standards.”

Haight emphasized that his plan included five pillars: safety, security, environmental stewardship, risk management and community benefit. He said the facility has a “long-standing legacy lead problem” that threatens the environment and nearby residents without responsible management.

“Under my plan, law enforcement access and youth sporting team access is guaranteed,” Haight explained, noting he would provide a dedicated 50-yard training bay for 10 to 12 officers at a time, secured by a 75-year lease at $1 per year. He said concrete and earth sidewalls would contain fire and direct sound upward rather than outward.

Haight also noted that ignoring the facility means “an unsecured and poorly managed range in place, one which lacks proper safety procedures, sound mitigation, security and lead management.” He noted the possible liability the Town of Edenton, Chowan County, and law enforcement agencies could face due to lack of proper, modern safety procedures and facilities.

He said that if council approved the letter, he would withdraw his proposal from the Partnership.

Council Decision

Before calling for the vote, Mayor Hack High thanked Haight for his interest in Edenton and apologized for the lengthy process. He and the Partnership had been negotiating the terms of the purchase since January.

“If I could go back and do it over again, there would be a lot of changes to how we handled it, both for the general public and also not dragging it on so long for you,” High said.

However, High said the positions of local law enforcement officials were decisive.

“When the chief of police of Edenton and the sheriff of Chowan County tell me that they don’t want this to happen, and then when neighbors and friends, such as those who came tonight, tell us that they didn’t want it to happen, as an elected official, those factors really loom large,” he said.

Councilman Sambo Dixon (2nd Ward) thanked residents for their engagement.

“I love the fact that people get involved and care about Edenton,” Dixon said. “When I got the sweetest letter from Lynn Partin … I think the last thing we want to do is interrupt any type of peace and quiet in people’s enjoyment of this place.”

Councilman Aaron Coston (3rd Ward) asked whether the Council could ask the Partnership to consider selling another piece of property to Haight for a shooting range. High said they could not make a motion to do that at the meeting due to procedural issues, but could consider doing so at another meeting.

Town Manager Corey Gooden said the letter would be sent to the partnership before their meeting scheduled for 4 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 13 in council chambers. Laws asked after the vote whether the town would consider improvements to security at the range, including high fencing and a locked gate to address current safety concerns.

The council’s decision was met with relief from the residents in attendance, many of whom thanked council members as they left the meeting.