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Indoor shooting is in range for Newbury
(by Joseph Koziol Jr. - April 22, 2011)
Indoor shooting is in range for Newbury
By JOSEPH KOZIOL JR.
An indoor shooting range will be coming to Newbury Township once the matter is sorted out in the courts.
Jodie K. Swartwout, of JADD Enterprises, is planning to open the Shooting Range Inc. at 12375 Kinsman Road (Route 87) once an agreed judgment entry can be worked out in the courts.
Ms. Swartwout filed an appeal April 12 of a denial by the township's zoning board of appeals for the shooting range. The board had denied a use variance for the operation on March 29.
Township Zoning Inspector Karen Endres said Ms. Swartwout was made aware when she first inquired that the township would not be able to approve for the operation because shooting ranges are not permitted uses under its zoning code.
She said a use variance could not be issued either, because the arguments for allowing the range do not rise to the standards set for granting a use variance.
Although it was the board of zoning appeals that denied the variance, the appeal names the township board of trustees as defendants.
Mrs. Endres said trustees were named because they have the ability to negotiate a settlement with Ms. Swartwout, not the board of appeals.
The township has used agreed judgment entries in the past, Mrs. Endres said, such as for the Impullitti Landscaping Co. on Ravenna Road (Route 44).
In those cases, the township can negotiate for conditions to be placed on businesses that zoning codes would not allow.
Mrs. Endres said she does not anticipate that an indoor shooting range will have the same problems that an outdoor range would have. Noise should not be a factor with the indoor shooting, and a bullet containment system will be included, she said.
There is no indoor shooting ranges within Geauga County, she said. That is a disadvantage to local law enforcement which must travel outside the county to be certified annually. Some long-range shooting, however, will have to be done at other facilities because the 125-foot range proposed does not satisfy all law enforcement requirements.
"This will allow us to keep our money within the county," she said.
Mrs. Endres said she anticipates that negotiations will be cordial and both sides will reach a mutually acceptable agreement within a short period of time.
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