07/14/2015

Council sets September hearing on shooting-range license for Spurwink Rod and Gun Club

The Town Council will hold a public hearing Sept. 14, 2015 on an application from the Spurwink Rod and Gun Club to become the town's first and only shooting range operating under town license. In the interim, councilors anticipate a public presentation of a safety evaluation conducted by an independent evaluator, Rick LaRosa from R Design Works in Georgia.

update 07/24/2015 - the report, received July 23, prompted officials to suspend live fire at the club pending resolution of the firing range license [news story]

Councilors on July 13, 2015 set the hearing following recommendation from the Firing Range Committee, a committee established in 2014 to implement a new ordinance governing shooting ranges in town. The ordinance, drafted to address concerns over noise and safety surrounding the Spurwink Rod and Gun Club on Sawyer Road, establishes a mechanism for licensing shooting ranges in town. The club has operated at its present location since the 1960s and is the only shooting range in Cape Elizabeth.

The Firing Range Committee has found the club's application complete and has recommended the Town Council grant the license, but the committee is also recommending councilors ask the safety evaluator about the club's phased plans for site improvement.

Mark Mayone, representing the Spurwink Rod and Gun club, said renovations are 60-percent finished and that major upgrades should be completed in three years. Tammy Walter, club president and a resident of Sawyer Road, said that the club has spent $38,000 in the last year on modernizing the range, and $22,000 more range and club improvements. "Our goal is to provide our members and the town of Cape Elizabeth the best, safest shooting facility in Maine," Walter said, thanking councilors.

Along with their recommendations, the Firing Range Committee said they found the club to be within the ordinance requirements for shot containment; and, that the town cannot limit noise because of the club's status as an existing shooting facility under state law.

A neighbor of the club, Apple Tree Lane resident Ed Nadeau, encouraged councilors to defer scheduling the public hearing pending submission of the independent safety evaluation. The evaluation, a requirement for licensure, was expected by the end of the week, said Police Sgt. Paul Fenton, the Firing Range Committee's staff representative.

Councilors, however, said they thought scheduling the hearing for September would allow time for a public presentation of the evaluation, possibly at the Aug. 10 Town Council meeting, and still give them time to reach a decision by the end of the year.

The Firing Range Committee has also recommended that the council compare the required $3 million of liability insurance to the amount required of shooting ranges in other communities; and, that it consider changing shooting-range hours on weekends.

Hours stipulated in the ordinance are 8 a.m. to a half hour before sunset Monday through Saturday; and, from noon to a half hour before sunset on Sunday.