A private shooting range in Sebastopol is driving neighbors crazy. They want officials to step in

Things have become a little less quiet lately along rural Barlow Lane in Sebastopol, a snaking concrete and gravel road lined with homes of various size and stature nestled among the trees, grape vines and orchards.

In the last couple of months, scattered gunfire has become a regular feature of neighborhood life, generating Nextdoor posts with well over a hundred comments and an escalating dispute that now involves the County Board of Supervisors, the Permit & Resource Management Department, and the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office.

It all started in late May when one of the lane’s residents began making full use of a private shooting range he set up on his property.

“Every time he starts shooting, I basically have to run through the house and close all the doors and windows, and we just sort of go into lock down until he’s done,” Tom Danaher, who lives next door, told me.

Danaher has lived on Barlow Lane for 24 years. “I have worked full-time, mostly hourly, for over 40 years to be able to live here,” he said.

In messages I read that were sent to County Counsel Robert Pittman, neighbors expressed frustration and distress at the unpredictable, ongoing gunfire echoing through the neighborhood and beyond.

One letter included a log that described shooting on most days at varied times in afternoons and evenings, lasting anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour.

“It’s always been a quiet neighborhood, an occasional barking dog or firework on the 4th. Recently that has all changed,” a 25-year Barlow Lane resident wrote. As a Korean War vet, he explained, the random fire from guns of varying caliber magnifies his post-traumatic stress disorder.

“A sudden shot on a quiet afternoon sends me into a jump for shelter! Lifesaving moves from a violent past are subconscious.”

The heart of the issue is that, regardless of disruption caused, the man is within his rights to shoot guns on his property, according to the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office.

“Our primary concern is making sure they’re shooting in a safe manner and safe direction,” Sgt. Juan Valencia told me. “We go out and investigate to see if they’re in compliance, and if they are, that’s their right to shoot on their property.”

Valencia said the shooting range is up to code and safe, angled away from any surrounding properties and toward a hillside. The resident also reportedly consulted with land use and legal experts, according to county correspondence, and he notifies the department whenever he’ll be shooting.

He’s called 50 times, according to police records. Neighbors have called with complaints 22 times.

“We’ve been receiving a lot of calls lately about gunshots in your neighborhood,” the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office posted on NextDoor. “County Code Section 19-A-5 allows shooting on private property as long as it meets safety standards, like distance from other houses … If you hear gunshots often, they’re likely coming from that property. While hearing the gunshots may be unwanted or concerning, this activity is allowed by County Code.”

“There’s nothing we can do at this point,” Valencia said.

The residents see it differently.

Skeptical neighbors have combed through county law themselves. On more than one occasion, a resident has called up and quoted code to dispatchers, and some have appealed to County Board of Supervisor Lynda Hopkins and Permit Sonoma to weigh in.

Paul Bellomo, who lives on a nearby street and dealt frequently with code enforcement as a consultant for the City of Santa Rosa, found some potentially relevant ordinances dating to 1992 on “disturbing the peace.”

“I’m the right guy or the wrong guy to be tangling with,” Bellomo said. “I will look it up.” When the shooting starts, Bellomo’s dog goes crazy, crawling under furniture. He’s worried, too, how his property value might be affected.

Others have raised questions about a right to “quiet enjoyment” found in California’s civil code.

Right now, the county has a policy framework addressing noise impact but that’s generally tied to land use requiring permits, and there is no generally applicable noise ordinance, according to Pittman’s office.

And, a staffer of Lynda Hopkins’ wrote in an email to some neighbors, “even in counties with a general noise ordinance, there remain outstanding legal questions about whether they would prevail over 2nd Amendment rights.”

Valencia maintained, too, that “disturbing the peace” doesn’t apply as it’s more often reserved for disturbances like late-night parties rather than someone shooting during the day or evening. He points to loud machinery and bright lights at night during harvest season as another noisy but legal disruption.