Zoning: The New Anti-Gun Context - Granite Grok

Zoning: The New Anti-Gun Context

If we desire respect for the law, we must first make the law respectable.  Louis D. Brandeis
LFGC_Message_LogoThe Londonderry Fish & Game Club is best described as, “the little club that could.” There was a time not so many years ago when access to club property was challenged and an expensive and costly lawsuit threatened our very existence. The club was broke and the financial challenges seemed insurmountable.Today, the LFGC is completely solvent. Our membership roles are now capped because we have all the members we can accommodate.
The time had finally come to complete our facility long range plans.  In a member-managed club, it is fundamentally important to create a process that is transparent all the way through from beginning to end. All members have to be given an opportunity to provide feedback and input and do so in a way as not to mire the process down or inadvertently stall the planning with the paralysis of analysis .
Last Wednesday night, (11/6/2013) Londonderry Fish & Game Club, Inc. was on the Londonderry Town Planning Board Docket for Public hearing. The project? Construction of a 200/400 Yard Range at Londonderry Fish & Game Club.
Eric C. Mitchell of Eric C. Mitchell and Associates was our design and engineering firm making the formal presentation for the public record.  The presentation was made, questions were asked by members of the Board and after about 25-30 minutes, the hearing was opened for Public comment. Ironically, we enjoyed no opposition!
Thereafter, the Board granted, “Conditional Approval” for our project.  Within a week, we will address some issues pertaining to drainage and we will have the full approval to Build our range.
Make no mistake about it. A huge amount of time effort and energy went into the “design review” process. LFGC was required to obtain through N.H. Department of Environmental Services, both a “Dredge and Fill Permit” and an Alteration of Terrain Permit, each of which cost the club over $1,000 each.
Upon submission for design review we had to escrow the town  $3,800 for the review process. Additionally, we had an application fee of about $1,100.  Our project was also determined to have, “Regional Impact” which gave the neighboring town of Litchfield a seat at the table as an abutter.
The whole process itself took us over a year with the able and competent help of our Range Committee. It was the collective brain power there that dug down into the boring mundane technical aspects, working closely with ECM, Inc and then ultimately subjecting our club to the design review process.
I am not going to guild the lily here. the Design Review process is expensive. Since 2010, LFGC has invested upwards of $36,000 without a shovel hitting any dirt. But the inverse of this can be ugly, expensive and political. A common mistake often made in projects of this manner is moving forward with a straight-forward plan review. without the details worked out beforehand, opposing members of the public show up and pig-pile on and this can mire the project down for years after and the planning stages can emerge to be more expensive.
I can say with a degree of certainty that the Londonderry Planning Staff remained objective, stuck to the zoning laws and statutes and I can say LFGC was treated fairly and reasonably. (In fact, the Planning Board Chairman complimented our club on a detailed and well-crafted presentation).
I understand there may be some club leaders who will dismiss this. I get that. It flies in the face of our own logic to pay so much money to ask permission to do what we have a right to do with the land that we clubs own. But lessons learned from Lone Pine Hunter’s Club vs. Town of Hollis is instructive in how we must work smarter and ensure our uses fall within the zoning  purview. The context the “Residents defending their homes” used against Lone Pine…was “ZONING.”
Shooting range noise also became an issue in the varied communications with both Litchfield and Londonderry.  We found that many asking questions were either vaguely familiar or totally unfamiliar with RSA 159-B also known as the “Range Protection Bill.” Questions about noise mitigation were politely addressed within that context.
Shooting Ranges are a permitted activity in the particular zone LFGC is located so no variances had to be sought. Planning Boards as a rule are bound by a narrow set of zoning regulations and state statutes. Many Boards will adhere to those requirements, but it is equally important to have a contingency plan when a governing body decides to go off the reservation.
LFGC will break ground to build this range in the Spring. Our process, for all the toil, hard work and yes, expense enabled the club to prevail in the process with very little difficulty. In closing, I would point out that our expense was not the average cost for site plan review. LFGC had wetlands issues to address and we also abut conservation land. But going into the project we took everything into consideration, anticipated the obstacles and objections and dealt with them head on.  Clubs have a right to build and improve their shooting facilities. Never be cowed into believing otherwise. And certainly, do not give the anti-range/anti-gun crowd any ammunition, to use the pun.
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