WELD COUNTY, Colo. — Christina Person and her family bought the land for their forever home in November of 2020. After building the house themselves, the family moved in April to their 11-acre property in unincorporated Weld County, near County Roads 19 and 84. The wide-open spaces and quiet nights are the perfect place for their horses and daughter, but Person worries that will change in the coming years.
“We literally would be surrounded by gunfire," Person said while standing at the edge of her property. “Horses don't do well with gunfire. ... Our dogs are also very gun shy. So, who knows?”
Person is worried about an idea from the Town of Severance to turn land near her home into an open-air gun range. Her concerns include safety, noise, and the effects on property values.
“We haven't been able to sleep since they announced this. We fear for our children, for our animals, for ourselves. And I can't imagine shooting straight at home, that close, is ever a good idea," Person said gesturing at neighbors' homes. “Is it necessary in the middle of homes? I like gun ranges. I've been to them before. There's a time and place for them. But I've never been to one where I could literally see a house when I turn around. You know, it's just too close. ... We all moved out here for the same reasons, and it wasn't to live by a gun range.”
Severance Mayor Matthew Fries said the town purchased roughly 120 acres in 2021 situated near the corner of County Roads 19 and 84. The idea was to develop the land into a future amenity for their citizens.
“At some point, prior to me being the mayor, it was suggested, hey, would an open-air gun range be something that would work in this area?" Mayor Fries explained. “There was a small amount of research done internally by our staff in terms of the size of whether or not it would even fit such project. And it was determined that the size is suitable, and there is a fairly substantial interest from our council members in pursuing the idea.”
Fries said the idea is in it's very beginning phases. He said the capital improvement project budget will be discussed at a city council meeting scheduled for Nov. 8, which includes several projects. One of those is the gun range idea. If approved, $85,000 would be set aside in 2025 for engineering, and $1.15 million would be allocated to construction in 2026.
“It could, in all likelihood, be pushed further down the road, depending on available funds. And also depending on the due diligence that we find out about the feasibility of the project, for sure," Fries said. “We certainly do not want to disrupt the neighbors that currently live there. But we're being told that safety mitigation is possible and sound mitigation.”
Fries said if the Town of Severance learned the safety and sound mitigation were not possible, they could look at other sites for the idea or find a new amenity for the land currently in question.
“We have received numerous phone calls and emails from citizens, both in favor and against the project," said Fries. "For those that have the concerns, I want them to know that I feel like they have very legitimate concerns. And at least from my perspective, I am not interested in pursuing anything that cannot be proven to me to be done safely and in a way that we can mitigate the potential irritation of gunshot noises.”
However, Fries said the Town of Severance has heard from many citizens who support the open-air gun range idea, which would be operated by the town.
“One of the very popular things that folks are in favor of is the fact that our high school and potentially middle school students could have shooting sports teams and participate," Fries said, while listing off other reasons residents are in favor of the range. “This is an opportunity for hunter education and safe gun use education, as we kind of are in the heartland of rural America. ... It'll be a real economic driver for the region. There's are other gun ranges available that are not as convenient as we feel like this one will be.”
Fries also said the property values concern is subjective, and believes those interested in shooting sports would actually want to live near the range.
“If it's done correctly, this could prove to be a real asset for the neighbors," Fries said. “It's just going to take us some time to get there, as there's no funds appropriated to even move on the project until 2025."
Still, Person adamantly disagrees, and said many of her neighbors do too. They plan on showing up and speaking at the city council meeting in early November.
“None of us had any idea that this was going to happen. Otherwise, we probably would have looked elsewhere. I don't want to live next to a gun range," Person said. “We're trying to help the Town of Severance before they spend a bunch of money on this and say, we're never going to be okay. No matter what you try to do, or what you try to make here, you're going to destroy all the properties in this area. So, we're never going to be okay with it.”