Mountain View County has scheduled a non-statutory public hearing for April 6 to receive comments on a proposed anti-noise bylaw.The bylaw, which will be brought forward at this Wednesday's regular council meeting, was first drafted in an effort to address complaints from residents about the Mountain View Marksman Association shooting range west of Olds.Last September, 23 landowners from the agricultural area surrounding the shooting range signed a joint request calling for the county to start proceedings to pull the gun club's permits and have all shooting ìcease immediately on the grounds that the unnecessary noise is a huge nuisance factor.îAn opinion from county lawyer Sheila McNaughtan, however, reaffirmed the position of administration, which said the county's only option was to enact a noise bylaw that would limit hours of operation for shooting ranges and set conditions to mitigate noise.ìIn our opinion, an anti-noise bylaw is an appropriate tool for a municipality to utilize to regulate noise which is or may become a nuisance,î McNaughtan wrote.The anti-noise bylaw, which will exempt agricultural activities, is expected to be challenged by the gun club in court, with the previous administration estimating the county's legal costs at between $100,000 and $250,000.The Marksman range lies just within the western boundary of Div. 7, on Rge. Rd. 23 south of Highway 27.Residents say the shooting range had co-existed without conflict for decades until about three years ago when the club swelled to a reported 1,200 members in what club founders from Olds called a takeover by Calgarians.
