Residents in Jackson County’s Tilley Creek community are circulating a petition that calls for a moratorium on new shooting ranges at the same time that the Cashiers-based Smoke Rise Field Club is said to be in negotiations to purchase a historic farm in the area.

The petition also calls for an ordinance to regulate shooting ranges.

“I’m desperately concerned about losing my home,” said Perry Eury, who wrote the petition and has organized a public meeting to discuss writing an ordinance. “I have absolutely no desire to sell, but should a shooting range come in, I feel it would be intolerable.”

The farm under consideration is a 194-acre tract owned by Caney Fork resident Sam Matthews, according to county land records. When Smoke Rise — forced to relocate due to an agreement to sell its current Cashiers property near the high-end Trillium development — was looking at property in the Caney Fork community, Matthews requested county commissioners develop an ordinance that would prevent shooting ranges from locating near schools, churches or residential communities. Matthews said ranges posed a potential threat, not just for their weaponry but also for the discharge of large amounts of lead and for their effect on property values.

Gun club treasurer James Reynolds, who is also a real estate agent, neither confirmed nor denied negotiations with Matthews.

“We have no comment on that transaction,” Reynolds said.

However, Eury isn’t taking any chances.

“What a gun club or anybody else does on their property is none of my business, but when it affects my ability to enjoy my home it is my business,” Eury said.

In 2004 Jackson commissioners considered a moratorium and reviewed National Rifle Association guidelines, which are commonly held up as the standard of gun range operation. The guidelines were deemed a good starting point for the creation of an ordinance; however, a moratorium was not passed and the ordinance was put on the back burner, largely because commissioners were told that Smoke Rise had lost interest in the Caney Fork property and was looking outside the county.

“I am trying to put together an ordinance to be considered at some point,” said Planning Coordinator Linda Cable.

The ordinance is not expected to be ready for commissioners’ review for another couple of months, Cable said.

A moratorium could be enacted, most likely following a public hearing, Cable said. Even if the land deal on Tilley Creek is completed before a moratorium, it will still stop the range. Should construction begin prior to a moratorium, the gun club will be exempt.

Burt Kornegay, a Caney Fork resident who signed the petition for a shooting range moratorium and ordinance, knows what it’s like to have a shooting range for a neighbor. For 10 years he’s been a guide leading family adventure trips through the Panthertown area, about two miles from Smoke Rise.

“It’s loud, it’s very annoying,” Kornegay said. “It’s the kind of sound that people in Panthertown are trying to get away from.”

Commissioners have placed a shooting range moratorium on the agenda for their upcoming meeting to be held Monday, March 7. In preparation for this meeting, Eury has organized a community meeting for anyone interested in discussing the issue. The meeting will be held at 7 p.m., Thursday, March 3 in the Jackson County Justice and Administration Center.