After years of calling police, residents of a retirement community in Lightfoot are now calling on the James City County Board of Supervisors to act on frequent gunfire coming from a nearby property.
Eighteen Colonial Heritage homeowners showed up at the board’s work session Tuesday afternoon to voice their discontent with the county’s current gun laws.
Seth Wilson, a resident of the retirement community, said he was there to let supervisors know the gunfire was unacceptable.
“I’m here to show a little support today for the discussion we hope the Board of Supervisors is going to have about hopefully revising the shooting regulations here,” Wilson said. “And we know this is Virginia, and it’s a gun state.”
Property and gun rights are cornerstones of the law in James City County and throughout the country, but after two bullets struck a home in the retirement community last month, the nature of both rights came under scrutiny.
Colonial Heritage did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
The reports of gunfire rattling off from a property on Centerville Road, near Colonial Heritage, highlighted an exception in county code that permits gunfire anywhere in the county.
Residents came before the Board Tuesday to show their support for Stonehouse Supervisor Sue Sadler, as she has agreed to push legislation to stop the gunfire.
“I’m doing what I think is best for the citizens of Colonial Heritage and the citizens of James City County,” Sadler said.
Since 2015, there have been 44 calls to James City County 911 operators reporting gunfire from a 22-acre “Family Subdivision” at 6277 Centerville Road, according to county dispatch records.
The property is owned by Otto Ripley, according to online property records. It is occupied by Ripley’s grandson Aaron Ripley, according to area residents.
Aaron Ripley declined to be interviewed for this story, but previously told WYDaily he works hard and likes to “relax” by shooting his firearms within a “legal boundary.”
Listen to the 911 calls.
“The problem here is that basically you’ve got a residential development butting up against agricultural land,” James City County Supervisor John McGlennon said. “When you’ve got this lack of transitional area between the two uses, you’re in for some conflict. Especially when you’re dealing with somebody that, I guess, is a little irresponsible with his firearms.”
At the May 9 Board of Supervisor’s meeting, Sadler asked County Attorney Adam Kinsman to take a look at the county code to see if there could be any specific ways the county could stop the gunfire from the Centerville Road property.
Kinsman told the board they had the legal right to create an 800-foot buffer zone around the homes in Colonial Heritage that would make it illegal to fire a handgun, but the suggestion might not address an exception in the county code that allows for gunfire anywhere in the county.
Supervisors will be able to debate a proposal on the issue at an upcoming board meeting, but no date has been set.
Residents have reported that the shooting on Centerville Road has stopped, but they’re worried it could start up again at any time. Their fear of the gunfire has led the entire community to band together, according Colonial Heritage resident Connie Sullivan.
“We’re becoming tighter as a community,” Sullivan said. “We’ve become tighter because we’re reasonably seeking safety.”
WYDaily archives were used in this story.
