I drove out to look at this property today. It was VERY close to my home.




Automatically, I knew where it was kind of. It was near a prison. Specifically a Federal medium security facility. This property is just down the road a few miles.

Its in a flood zone. All of the property is FEMA rated Flood Zone A. Turns out, the area it is in was once an aggregate quarry. Because its near the Trinity River, many sections in this area were once mined. Now they are just left.

There is a County of Dallas program going on righ now in surrounding properties. It is the Palmetto Alligator Slough Preserve.




Whats cool is there is this 30 acre tract in the middle of it. And there is a shooting range on it. Thats the thing which makes the property most attractive. So, I was thinking that it could be a viable shooting club. It is actually closer than where I go shooting now.

What some of you guys do not know, is in the Dallas area, there are limited areas to shoot. Most places are formal ranges. But finding a place to do moving and shooting (like IDPA) is minimal.


I was actually thinking that I could turn the purchase of the property in a viable side business. Or atleast enough where the property could break even and just run in the black. Specifically gear it as a private club. People buy year memberships to shoot. They get a key to the gate and can use the property.

Yes there will be some liability insurance hassles. But I was talking about this with the owner of the range I usually go to. The insurance is really not that bad. As you require every person with a membership to sign a disclaimer document that the Insurance company creates. This is in effect at many shooting locations near Dallas/FtWorth.

Some of you rural living guys are fortunate. You have many places to go and shoot. We suburbanites do not have that luxury. So this may indeed be a decent opportunity. For already I know of quite a few local Dallas shooters who would jump at the chance for a private range less than 30min out of town.

Huh?

Is this part of a lake? The background they give on it sounds like it's some sort of "protected" wetland area. Which means you may play HELL with a shooting range there in the future (regardless of past history of there being a range at that location). If what they say is true, and there are biologists and state/federal scientists studying the swamp, they're going to end up shutting down a gun range eventually. The noise, coupled with the "lead poisining dangers" would give them plenty of excuse to get a shooting range closed permanently in the area if it's a wildlife habitat. I would definitely check into this.

Is the water portion of the property accessible to the public at any point? I was under the impression that all water bodies in Texas were public property unless totally enclosed by private property. If a third of the land you're looking at is under water, and connected to a larger body of water, I don't see how it can be considered private property.

My concerns are similar to yours. Specifically, why is the range no longer in use.

I talked with the realtor. He stated that there are no restrictions to shooting. Half the property has actually been zoned commerical for the shooting range. The other half is residential.

The realtor also said "someone was going to be placing the property under contract any minute now". The same song and dance when I looked at the other river/flood zone property.

This area is filled with gravel extraction quarries. Imagine 5-40 acre tracts with the center of them mined out. Some of them flood and form lakes. This is what is on the property, totally surrounded within the tract.

Its these pits which are turned into the Wildlife preserves.


Keep in mind, I have no illusions that the Goverment (State or Local) could/would be a thorn down the road. Its a real concern. But if that was the case, there are other sites in the area which would be effected all well. Many of them industrial.

Because of the industrial plots nearby this 500 acre preserve, I tend to think that a private range would not be a major issue. But a public one would attract alot more attention.