09/11/2014

Shooting range will get more time, permits to prepare for license application

The Town Council on Sept. 8, 2014 voted to allow the Spurwink Rod and Gun Club to make improvements to its Sawyer Road facility before applying for an operating license. The council also agreed to extend the 90-day period the gun club has to apply for the license, as required by the newly adopted shooting-range ordinance.

The request for exceptions to the shooting-range ordinance came from the Firing Range Committee, which is charged with reviewing and recommending licenses for shooting ranges in Cape Elizabeth.

At the same meeting, the council also agreed to arrange and pay for a professional safety evaluation of the club, also a requirement for a shooting-range license.

Last year the town, with the help of attorney Kenneth Cole, developed a licensing procedure for shooting ranges in response to complaints from neighbors of the Spurwink Rod and Gun Club. Complaints included noise and stray bullets entering the neighborhood. The ordinance was adopted in March 2014 and became effective 30 days later. [news article]

The shooting-range ordinance spells out the new licensing procedure, but a snag was found when it came time for the Spurwink Rod and Gun Club, which has operated since the 1960s and is the only range in town, to demonstrate bullet containment.

The problem is that the ordinance also prevents unlicensed ranges from obtaining construction permits, a situation which the committee submitted as a hardship for the club. The ordinance allows the Firing Range Committee to ask the Town Council for exceptions to the ordinance in cases of hardship.

"There's a registration process and an application process that requires proof of shot-containment," said Jamie Wagner, town councilor and chair of the Firing Range Committee. "If we don't allow a firing range to make improvements, it makes it very difficult indeed for such range to ever achieve shot-containment," he said.

Councilors agreed that a hardship exists and voted to allow the exceptions.

Councilor Caitlin Jordan, also a member of the Firing Range Committee, said she believed this was why the exception rule was built into the ordinance. "This exception is exactly what's needed to put the building permits in place, get the improvements and get the (license) application through," she said. It will be up to the club to ensure the improvements do enhance safety, Jordan said.

Safety evaluation

Councilors also voted to take responsibility for conducting the safety evaluation required for the Spurwink Rod and Gun Club's license, provided the club allows access for the town's consultant to conduct the study.

Town Manager Michael McGovern said he would issue a request-for-proposals for the safety evaluation and come back to the council next month with an estimate and a request for funding. Councilors agreed that the town would be the most impartial entity to request and to fund the safety evaluation.