Peabody OKs Mobile Shooting Range

DarthRevan

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Peabody OKs mobile shooting range - Itemlive

Pretty freaking sweet.

PEABODY — The Zoning Board of Appeals has voted unanimously to grant a variance to Northeast Arms LLC to place a portable shooting range on its property. Its overall area precluded its staying within its designated buffer area.

The required buffer on the left side yard was 100 feet, and Northeast was asking for 70; and 50 feet in the rear yard, whereas the company proposed 28 feet.

Despite strong objections from the abutters of the area, many of whose complaints exceeded the ZBA’s authority to rectify them, the request was granted Monday night with five conditions: that its hours extend from only 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., from Tuesday through Saturday; that the doors of the structure remain closed while any gun-shooting was taking place; that the area on the property where the mobile trailer sat be clearly marked off; that any refrigeration and heating units be shut off when the facility is not in use; and that a seven-foot vinyl fence be erected around the facility as a way to further muffle sound.

Prior to the discussion on the subject, ZBA secretary Dan Sencabaugh summed up a number of letters from abutters, saying “reasons for opposition are as follows: depreciation of property values, noise, buffer zones shouldn’t be infringed upon, safety and traffic concerns, not enough information provided, health and safety.

“Just about everyone spoke of noise being the real reason for the opposition,” Sencabaugh said. “That and health and safety. We were receiving letters up until today.”

However, Chair Fran Bisazza Gallugi said that the board had little jurisdiction to rule on the majority of the complaints.

“We are here,” she said, “only to provide dimensional relief.”

At least one abutter said that wasn’t made clear to residential dwellers in nearby neighborhoods, such as Huntington Wood, through the many months the issue had been before the board.

“It would have been much appreciated if you gave us the information earlier that you were only going to deal with dimensional relief,” said Peg O’Mara. “We could have found other ways to register our objections. We could have hired a lawyer.”

Attorney John Keilty, representing Northeast Arms, agreed to all the conditions. He said the positioning of the trailer came down to the ability for rescue equipment to negotiate what could have been an impossibly tight squeeze had it been placed anywhere else on the property. He also said that while the trailer would stay on the grounds for 80 to 90 percent of the time, it would be able to drive to nearby police stations to assist in officers’ firearms training. It would also help citizens learn how to use firearms safely. Keilty said that none of the guns were loud enough to create significant decibel issues, and that no automatic weapons would be allowed aside from the semi-automatics used by law enforcement personnel.

“In my opinion, this is something we could all benefit from in the long run,” saidi Gallugi. “I think it’s needed. And at this point in time, I see no reason not to approve it.”

Echoing her was ZBA member Barry Osborne.

“There are noise ordinances that will be enforced,” he said. “It’s not the ZBA’s job to regulate that. If the fire department said its trucks couldn’t get around it, then we wouldn’t permit it. If the fire department says that’s where you have to put the building, that’s where you put it.

“If we’re going to start limiting businesses on Route 1, we’re in for a world of hurt,” he said. “Police departments are striving to get better. How can we take that resource away from them?

“There will be enough enforcement up there to make sure (Northeast) does it right,” he said. “If you start driving businesses out, watch your residential rates go up. And that leads you to trouble.”

Ward 5 City Councilor Joel Saslaw urged the ZBA to delay voting on the matter until more information could be obtained.

“This hearing has been going on for months,” Saslaw said. “I would remind the board that the people asked for information a while ago. What kind of heating? How were they going to cool it? What kind of noise would you hear? When we had the Big Pig Barbeque come in, they worried about smoke, and passage was delayed until (the city) could find out.

“There should be no rush here,” said Saslaw. “I support the residents. I oppose this.”

Ed Colbert also urged the board not to grant the variance, saying that Keilty had not provided many of the specifications he and other opponents sought.

“I dispute the argument that there will be room for fire equipment to get past there,” said Colbert, whereupon Gallugi quickly responded that she’d been to the site and talked to the fire chief and was assured it was possible.

“Diagrams are fine when you have 100 acres of land and there’s nothing to see,” Colbert said. “But if you’re going to vote on a trailer you’ve never seen the specifications on, and you don’t know how close that trailer is going to be to someone’s backyard … I’m going to ask the board to vote no. Decline this.”

Steve Krause can be reached at [email protected].
 
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Phuck these anti's. They try to use laws to stiffle lawful activity. But when the laws do not stiffle lawful activity, they still want boards to just say no - because they say so.

Phuck you all. We are a nation of laws, not fears and boogeymen and discomforts of others rights that we don't like.

This portable trailer is a great solution.
 
I reached my five free articles this month I can't read it. Lol. I may have to purchase the paper. Congrats to them!
 
lol....all the anti's went to ZBA with their pitchforks out and the board chair told them that they were only deciding dimensional requirements at the hearing. I would have died laughing on the floor if I heard that live.

People do that all the time though. Go to these hearings to bitch about X/Y/Z, but without doing even the slightest research into hearing agenda.
 
Congrats to the Northeast Arms team. While I no longer receive Christmas cards from them, they are A-OK in my book.
 
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