PUSLINCH – Some residents want council's help regulating the "excessive" shooting sounds created by a neighbouring shooting club for the sake of their mental health.
Delegating during a Puslinch council meeting Wednesday, neighbours of the Galt Sportsmens Club on Gore Road Olinda Dasilva and Scott Bartles have asked councillors to help create a regulatory bylaw to mitigate the shooting noise at the club's gun range.
Calling the current noise levels "unbearable," Dasilva said the noise pollution wasn't as intrusive or frequent when she moved to the property in 2007 but the "exponential growth" of the club and its hours of operation over the last number of years is "causing anxiety and emotional distress" to her and her family.
"When you're in the shower and you've got your windows closed and you can still hear the gunshots, that's not right," said Dasilva, during the meeting.
To prove her point, Dasilva played two videos during the meeting, one from 2023 and one from March 2024, where shots up to 95 decibels can be heard in her backyard.
Bartles, who has lived on Gore Road since 1988, said residents have sold their properties in the past due to the "constant barrage of impact noise from the gun club."
"The noise levels have become so extreme that we're not able to have reasonable enjoyment of our properties," said Bartles. "All summer we are unable to utilize our backyards and are forced to keep our windows closed."
President of the Galt Sportsmens Club, Pierre Henderson did not immediately respond to requests for comment but Mayor James Seeley did say the group shared they're open to cooperating on a noise bylaw when they were approached by township staff.
According to the group's AGM minutes from May 2023, the Galt Sportsmens Club has 1,580 members, its highest on record, and membership continues to increase steadily.
A 250-acre site with five separate outdoor shooting areas, the club has a 20-200-yard outdoor rifle range and a 25 to 200-yard outdoor handgun range open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to sunset during weekdays and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends.
The group's website said the club installed reflective berms and planted "a large number of trees" to decrease the level of sound leaving the ranges. It also said the club measures sound levels at their property boundaries to ensure they don't exceed accepted norms for Canadian Gun clubs.
In response to the delegation, councillors unanimously approved a motion from Coun. John Sepulis for staff to draft a report in consultation with the local community and the Galt Sportsmens Club.
The report will include a cost estimate and schedule to develop a shooting range bylaw that prescribes the maximum impulse sound level at the point of reception including the hours of operation and will consider creating a permit process for the operation of a shooting club.
Canada does not currently have any standards established for managing noise at outdoor shooting ranges.
In Uxbridge, existing shooting ranges are allowed a maximum of 60 dBAI while all new shooting ranges are subject to a maximum noise level of 45 dBAI.
Isabel Buckmaster is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for GuelphToday. LJI is a federally-funded program
