COLUMBIANA — A local business owner is seeking approval to add an indoor shooting range to his facility.

Jacob Kellner, owner of Kellner Range and Supply, went before the city’s planning commission in August to share his site plan for the indoor range at 325 Industrial Dr.

He said the enclosed, 25-yard, 10-lane range would be housed in an addition at the back of the existing gun business.

Kellner is working with Action Sports, which is a company that builds shooting ranges and was involved in the construction of the indoor range in Austintown.

Kellner explained that the plan is to build a pole barn type of facility onto the existing building, and it would all be insulated, with the range itself heated and cooled and air quality controlled by HEPA filters.

“Action Sports company also has an action crew that comes out, so anything lead, or brass, they come out and assist in cleaning up that,” he said.

He added that all service and maintenance would be in compliance with EPA regulations.

In addition to being insulated on the inside, he said the exterior of the building would also be insulated.

“So any of the noise that you might be able to hear outside of the range itself would be muffled within the exterior building,” he said.

He went on to say that Austintown — which doesn’t have the extra level of sound protection included in his design — had a study conducted in the past that showed that the noise levels there were no louder than the passing traffic.

“Everything is going well at their location,” he said.

Columbiana Municipal Attorney Mark Hutson said that the Ohio Administrative Code defines unacceptable noise levels as above 90 decibels for one hour of operation or 80 decibels and higher for eight hours of continuous operation.

He added that in order to move forward with the indoor range plan, Kellner would need to seek a conditional use permit through the newly established building and zoning department since the business is located within the industrial zone.

“Quite frankly, there is nowhere in our code that specifically provides for a shooting range, so what that probably means is that you will be a conditional use,” he said.

In addition, since Kellner will need to seek a conditional use permit, that means a public hearing must be set in order for the neighboring properties to have a chance to have a say in the matter, he added.

Once the public hearing is scheduled and completed then the planning commission would decide if Kellner could move forward with the addition.

Hutson also said it would be good for Kellner to provide copies of a safety plan and general range rules and administrative rules and regulations.

Kellner said there will be a range safety officer present at all times and that a few are law enforcement officers as well.

“We do have a gunsmith on staff,” Kellner said, explaining that if there were any malfunctions with the firearms, they would be put in a locked container and the gunsmith would be the one to handle that.

He added there is also first aid training available for all gun employees working on the range.

The highest caliber gun to be fired at the indoor range would be an AR-556, which would require the purchase of one range lane and the lane next to it to ensure safety, he said.

“The backstop is rated for a much larger caliber than that, but they normally don’t allow that within a 25 yard shooting range,” he said.

It was also mentioned during the meeting that Kellner would need to visit city council to discuss the current law prohibiting the discharge of firearms within city limits.