After receiving an onslaught of negative feedback from residents, a company has decided to pull its plans for a firing range at Sugarloaf Mountain.
The Frederick News-Post reported residents packed a 200-person hearing roomlast week for a hearing before the Frederick County Board of Zoning Appeals. Testimony resumed Tuesday evening, but the company behind the firing range, Old Line Arsenal LLC, withdrew their application.
The gun range was proposed for an area that is zoned for resource conservation.
Opponents say the range would have spoiled the peacefulness of the area and could have hurt local businesses.
"This tranquility, this natural setting, this quietness is my bread and butter,'' said Jill Reeves, who runs a yoga studio near the range site.
Plans called for two outdoor shooting ranges, an indoor shooting range and a three-story wooden shooting tower.
