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Bowhunting plan won't fly in Pepper Pike
(by Sali McSherry - November 19, 2008)
Bowhunting plan won't fly in Pepper Pike
By SALI McSHERRY
There will be no bowhunting in Pepper Pike following a discussion and informal vote last week by City Council.
Council members Allan Krulak, David Portmann, Gail Mayland and Frederick Taft said they are opposed to bowhunting of deer in the city.
Mayor Bruce H. Akers, who said he was in favor of trying the program for a year, shared information about how bowhunting works in neighboring communities. Bowhunting is allowed in Hunting Valley, Orange, Gates Mills, Bentleyville, Moreland Hills, Brecksville and Independence, he said, with no problems, except for one in Hunting Valley, when a hunter crossed onto a neighbor's property following a deer, Mr. Akers said.
Some council members expressed concerns over the proximity of neighbors in a city of mostly one-acre lots, the potential for accidents involving people and wounded deer.
Resident Marcia Ungar said the city doesn't have to follow suit with other municipalities. "It's not a hunting community, it's a bedroom community," she said.
Resident Karen Ericksen said she is against bowhunting. Her family moved to Pepper Pike for the deer, she said. Her husband, Jack, said he's concerned about who would be responsible if a deer were injured and wandered onto other properties.
Council members Paulette Morganstern, Clevis Svetlik and Richard Hankins said they were willing to try the program for a year.
Pepper Pike has a deer-culling program in place that uses clover trapping and captive-bolt euthanizing. The program is controlled by the number of permits issued by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife.
Resident Chip Kulp said the city should allow bowhunting and that cage trapping is not humane.
The traps are chain-link cages, 8 feet long, 6 feet high and 2 1/2 feet wide. Residents interested in the culling program had to prove to ODNR that their property had suffered damage from deer, such as a gardens that had been destroyed, according to police Lt. Terry Pristas. The process also includes ODNR making an on-site visit before making a determination and a survey among neighbors, he had said.
Mr. Svetlik said bowhunting would not cost the city anything, unlike the trapping program, which cost about $8,500 last year.
If the city had moved forward with the hunting program, Mr. Pristas said, it would control the number of permits. However, it would be difficult to offer both culling programs, because they would compete, he said.
Mr. Akers suggested that, if the program were to move forward, all hunters would have to obtain permits from the chief of police, show proficiency in bowhunting and furnish a hunting license from the State of Ohio. If residents wanted bowhunting on their properties, a minimum aggregation of two acres would be required, he said, and contiguous property owners would have to be notified in writing. A raised platform tree stand would be required so that arrows would be shot downward and not travel any distance, he said. Hunters would be required to notify the owners when they would be on the property.
There's no pressing reason to allow bowhunting in Pepper Pike, Mr. Taft said.
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