Neighbors complain about archery club in Geneva

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — A man's popular archery club is at risk of shutting down after neighbor's complained about it to county leaders.

Neighbors who live near 'Geneva Archery' think the club is actually a business and it's in a dangerous location.

County officials were ready to approve the archery club after one neighbor complained that the club is actually a business. But that approval was delayed after a second neighbor complained that the club is unsafe and is too close to homes and roads.

The neighbor worries the arrows could hit a house or one of the thousands of cars that drive on nearby State Road 426.

Hunter Froud told WFTV he knows how to shoot an arrow thanks to Phil Graves, owner of 'Geneva Archery.'

"It helps me focus and take my mind off of school," Froud said.

But Froud's fun could soon run out because of the neighbors' complaints.

Neighbors accuse Graves of running a business on his private residential property, but he said that's not the case.

"By no means are we a business. We are a club, just like it would be Boy Scouts or the Girl Scouts," Graves said.

Weekly dues at the club are $11 and Graves said that money goes to bows, arrows and targets. He has been running the club for years on his three-and-a-half-acre property, which is also where he lives.

Graves said the club is safe because he puts a protective screen behind the targets, which sit in front of a heavily wooded area. On the other side of the woods are the neighboring properties.

But neighbors told county leaders at a recent meeting that they don't think their property is safe from flying arrows.

"We should never have to worry about safely going anywhere on our property for any reason," neighbor Bill Vincent said.

The archery club is expected to be discussed at the next Seminole County Board of Adjustment meeting in late February.

WFTV