Dixon officials looking into claims that shooting range violates city zoning laws

DIXON — Dixon officials are looking into the zoning of the city’s shooting range after a resident questioned the legality of its existence at Monday’s City Council meeting.

The shooting range on Anchor Road near Route 52 is owned by the city and has been used solely as a training facility for local law enforcement since the early 1970s. In recent years, the city has gotten a few complaints related to noise since the range is near residential areas, but Monday night’s complaint “is the first time that I’ve heard of an issue being raised around zoning,” Dixon City Manager Danny Langloss said.

ExpandAutoplay

Image 1 of 6

Some neighbors are complaining Dixon's gun range is too close to residential areas. (Alex T. Paschal)

At Monday’s meeting, George Bellovics of Dixon, who’s lived near the shooting range for over 20 years, said it is in violation of the city’s zoning laws.

Bellovics said the property is “currently zoned as light limited manufacturing business park district” which Dixon Building Official Tim Shipman confirmed as being correct.

There are 94 permitted uses and special uses of properties with that zoning designation, none of which include a shooting range, according to city code.

The code further states that activities at the property “must be carried on in a manner not injurious or offensive to the occupants of adjacent premises by reason of the emission of odors, fumes, gases, dust, smoke, noise, vibrations or fire hazards.”

“Your shooting range is breaking all of those,” Bellovics said. “What the city needs to first do is to take care of its own business and that is you are in complete diametric opposite of your zoning law for this property and we’d like a conversation on how to remedy that.”

Bellovics said he presented this information to council member Mike Venier about two years ago and none of it’s “been disputed.”

Venier did not attend Monday’s meeting.

“If it is the noise issue, we’re trying to be considerate,” Langloss said, adding that Dixon Police Chief Ryan Bivins has some ideas on ways to suppress the sound, but “it’s not a cheap fix.”

He said many local law enforcement agencies, including the Sauk Valley Police Academy and the Dixon Police Department, use the facility for training. For the most part, officers will train during day-time hours during the week and officers occasionally use it for practice in the mornings on Saturdays and Sundays. It is not open to the public.

“We’re not there all the time, but our police officers have to train and having a facility right on the edge of town has been a really valuable asset,” Langloss said. “We have to look at serving the greater good of the community versus what’s better, maybe, for a few.”

As for the zoning issue, Langloss said, city attorney Rob LeSage is looking into it and will have some information in a couple weeks.

“We feel, and have felt, we’re in compliance, but we’re having our attorney look into it just to make sure we’re on solid footing,” Langloss said.

The city’s current zoning code has been in effect since 1996, Shipman said.

When a property, structure, or use doesn’t meet current zoning regulations, but was legally established before those regulations were in place, it can be considered legal non-conforming or grandfathered in, Shipman said.

“I don’t know if that is the fact behind this particular location, because I just heard about it last night for the first time so I haven’t researched back enough to define that,” Shipman said.

If that is the case, Bellovics said, “it has to be legitimate. It can’t be a handshake in some backroom that says we’re going to put it here and then grandfather it in 30 years later.”