The Peterborough Select Board are scheduled to hold a rehearing later this month on a zoning amendment voters approved at May Town Meeting that bars outdoor shooting ranges.
The board received a request for a re-hearing on Zoning Amendment 1 from attorneys representing the Monadnock Rod and Gun Club in mid-June.
Zoning Amendment 1, voted on and passed at the ballot on May 14, included a new definition for recreational facilities, among several other new definitions. The recreational facilities definition included language requiring all shooting ranges be fully enclosed and indoors.
Attorney’s representing the Monadnock Rod and Gun Club argued in their motion for a rehearing of the amendment’s language, as it was presented on the ballot, didn’t make it clear that a “yes” vote would include a substantive change to the ordinance by barring outdoor gun ranges.
“The Planning Board notice and the ballot misled the petitioner and the voters by indicating that the proposed new language regarding shooting ranges was merely a modification or clarification of the definition of ‘recreational facility,’” the motion for rehearing said. “In fact, the new language regarding shooting ranges created and restricted a newly identified use in the Zoning Ordinance, a use not previously cited or recognized in the Zoning Ordinance.”
The Monadnock Rod and Gun Club is the only entity with a commercial outdoor shooting range in the town, according to the club’s motion for a rehearing, and the amendment impacts the club’s property rights.
The club’s outdoor range is currently the subject of litigation both with the town and a neighboring property owner. The town alleges the club didn’t receive proper permits and permission before expanding the range, and the expansion of the range also allegedly trespassed onto a neighbor’s lot.
While the two matters have been in litigation, the club has not been operating its outdoor range since July 25, though it has continued with its other activities such as fishing derbys, hunter education courses and their regular member meetings.
In addition to alleging the language on the ballot regarding Zoning Amendment 1 was misleading, the Monadnock Rod and Gun Club argued it was also in violation of the “single-subject rule”, a court decision preventing multiple amendments to the zoning ordinance in a single proposed amendment when the subjects of the amendment aren’t “naturally and logically connected.”
Because the request involves a vote of the legislative body, the town is required to hold the re-hearing, Select Board Chair Tyler Ward announced during Tuesday’s Select Board meeting. The board agreed to schedule the hearing for it’s Tuesday, July 16 meeting.
The motion for a re-hearing requests that following the board’s hearing, a special Town Meeting be scheduled to hold a re-vote on Amendment 1. The Select Board will make that determination following their review.
Should the Select Board deny a re-vote on the Zoning Amendment 1, the Monadnock Rod and Gun Club could then appeal the decision to the Superior Court.
The rehearing is tentatively scheduled for July 16 at 6:30 p.m. at the Town House. The town is currently reviewing the requirements for providing notice to residents, and the date is subject to change depending upon those requirements. The finalized date will be posted on the town’s website when available.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.