Fire department turkey shoot shut down

Was big fundraiser for department

Friday, Feb. 5, 2010

What the North Beach Volunteer Fire Department saw as an excellent fundraiser, the county's zoning department saw as a violation.

According to a Jan. 15 message from the fire department's Web site written by Assistant Chief Donald Gibson, a Calvert County code enforcement officer found a zoning violation where the department had been holding turkey shoots and promptly shut the shoot down.

According to the North Beach Volunteer Fire Department's Web site, the shoot was located at Windmill Farms on Route 260 at Mt. Harmony Road.

"We are saddened and somewhat frustrated with the fact that budgets are being decreased and fund raising events are generating less profits, making it an up hill battle to find new and profit bearing events," Gibson wrote in the Web site message.

Ricky Cress, chair of the North Beach Volunteer Fire Department's board, said that while he did not want to comment at the moment, the department was looking for and close to finding a new location.

Zoning Officer Mary Beth Cook said that the department would initially have had to go to the county board of appeals to have an exception made, though even that will not be possible due to the shoot's location.

"The use has to be at least 1,000 feet from any existing property boundary … and this cannot meet that," Cook said, continuing, "It would have to be a pretty big parcel of land to have that type of range."

She added that the shutdown had nothing to do with the actual turkey shoot or its organizer.

"It's merely a zoning issue," Cook said.

She said that while the fire department could certainly look for another property and apply for a permit, there was no way the zoning requirements could be met on the existing property.

Dwight A. Owens Jr., the editor of the Southern Maryland Shooting Times, recently sent a letter to The Calvert Recorder showing support for the North Beach Volunteer Fire Department.

"[Southern Maryland Shooting Times] would like to bring this matter to the public's attention and find the department a new location for their event … I am submitting this notice to the public in hopes that someone out here in this world has a kind enough heart to hopefully help provide a property that meets the county codes so that the [North Beach Volunteer Fire Department] can continue their much needed fund raising event," Owens said.

lbuck@somdnews.com