County leaders defer vote on controversial Goochland shooting range proposal

Jan 16, 2026 - 12:25

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County leaders defer vote on controversial Goochland shooting range proposal

GOOCHLAND COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- The vote on a controversial proposal for an over 80-acre skeet shooting range in Goochland County's west end was deferred during a heated meeting Thursday night.

During a regular meeting on Thursday, Jan. 15, the Goochland Planning Commission agreed 4-1 to defer the vote on a conditional use permit that would allow the nonprofit Virginia Sports Park and Training Center at Goochland, LLC to build and operate a shooting range along Walton Road.

The decision to defer the vote came due to remaining questions about noise levels for neighbors and security concerns, as well as the possible environmental and traffic impact if the shooting range were built.

The commission agreed to discuss the permit again during the next meeting on March 19.

The room was packed with citizens from Goochland and from the surrounding counties, with many among them being Walton Road residents.

"I wonder — what causes a group like the Walton Road neighbors to come together like this? ... The only conclusion I can come to is that they know this gun range will detrimentally impact their livelihood," one speaker who opposed the range said.

As proposed, the 85-acre skeet shooting range would include a sporting clays course -- which is a type of shooting game -- as well as several other types of shotgun shooting stations, such as five stand and wobble trap, according to county documentation on the proposal. It would also include both indoor and outdoor archery ranges.

FROM OCT. 2025: Proposed shooting range raises concerns from Goochland neighbors

8News previously spoke with several neighbors at a community meeting in October 2025, who said they were against the proposal, citing concerns about noise from the range, as well as possible impacts on property value it could have.

The county noted within its documents that "most citizens" who attended a Dec. 9, 2025 meeting about the proposal expressed worries of their own, including noise, possible litter on the roadway, possible impacts on surrounding businesses and more.

Virginia Sports Park and Training Center, LLC of Goochland has reportedly shared plans on how it intends to tackle several of these issues. However, the county noted that, so far, the nonprofit has "not fully addressed" concerns about the range's hours of operation, tournaments and events, noise and environmental impacts related to lead, among others.

County staff proposed a total of 19 conditions be placed on the development and operations of the shooting range, including things like:

Maps relating to a proposed gun range on Walton Road in Goochland County. (Photos: Goochland County Planning Commission/Board of Supervisors)

Only shotguns, sizes 12 gauge and smaller, can be fired on the property
These guns can only be fired between 9 a.m. and sunset on Mondays through Saturdays, with no shooting permitted on Sundays
No more than 12 tournaments can be held each calendar year
Each shooting station has a "shot fall zone" of at least 300 years downrange in all shooting directions
An environmental stewardship plan must be submitted before a plan of development will be approved
Various kinds of buffers and berms must be present around the property, with some proposed placements for these fixtures outlined in the map above

During Thursday's meeting, a county representative said that, while a sound study of the property has been conducted, it has not yet been analyzed and that county staff may not have the capability to do so.

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The director of Virginia Sports Park (VSP) spoke at the meeting, saying that the nonprofit itself had an independent noise study conducted.

Across an 8-hour period, with multiple guns firing, the sound levels averaged between 22.1 and 52.4 decibels, with the highest reading collected 50 feet behind the shooters, per the nonprofit. The U.S. Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) says dangerous noise levels begin at 85 decibels.

"Yes, you're gonna have higher points, you're gonna have multiple people shooting ... [but typically] people take turns," said a noise analyst associated with the study. "You don't have 100 people shooting [at once.]"

On the whole, Virginia Sports Park emphasized that this "sporting clay and archery sports park" would be of great community benefit, bringing neighbors together and pouring more than $2 million in capital investments into the area.

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The nonprofit's director stressed that this site was chosen to minimize disruption to the surrounding areas. However, opponents of the proposal disagree.

Multiple citizens who came forward to speak pointed out that there are dozens of homes within a mile of the property, with many of them located in the range's "shotfall zones," or the areas in which bullets fired from the range may land.

"VSP should find another location that isn't guaranteed to be lethal to our neighbors," one citizen said.

Many of the speakers said they enjoy the shooting hobby and it's one they want to share with their kids. It's the location of this range, not what it represents, that bothers them.

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In addition to these potential safety concerns, attending Walton Road residents repeatedly stressed that the noise of the shooting range would disrupt their daily lives.

One speaker said that he felt that the nonprofit's independent noise study wasn't a fair representation of what neighbors could have to deal with, as it only involved a few guns, not the several that would be involved in a tournament.

"The county should not accept [this experience] as what Walton Road residents will experience if this [proposal] is approved," he said.

Another speaker played a recording she took while sitting outside a shooting range while sitting in her car. According to her, there were not many cars at the range that day -- but there was still little time between the pops of gunfire that could be heard from her phone.

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"We will be forced to deal with thousands of gunshots daily," said another Walton Road resident.

The Goochland Board of Supervisors will review the Planning Commission's recommendation after a vote and make a final decision at a future meeting.