A request for a special use permit to allow a public shooting range off Hubb Shutts Road in the Town of Cobleskill was pulled Wednesday—to the surprise and applause of about 35 neighbors who opposed it.
With signs reading, “Don’t let the shooting range impact our lives,” “Maintain peace and tranquility in our community,” and “Do you want a shooting range in your back yard?” the crowd came to the Planning Board meeting ready to argue against Dan Bartholomew’s plans to open a shooting range on Tyrell Road.
But before they got a chance, Mr. Bartholomew said he was withdrawing his application.
“I wasn’t aware that this was a public hearing,” he said.
“I’m here to withdraw my application…It will remain a private law enforcement [range]. I don’t have to be open to the general public—but I reserve the right to reapply.
“I don’t need this and they [neighbors] don’t need me.”
Mr. Bartholomew first approached the Planning Board about the project in March of 2009; a meeting on it in December drew so many complaints and concerns that planners tabled the issue.
Wednesday’s crowd applauded Mr. Bartholomew’s words and after he left the meeting, asked for a chance to speak anyway.
Randy Gunther said that like many of his neighbors, he’s a gun owner, “But I don’t need this guy blazing ballets away all day,” something he and others said had happened all day Sunday.
“It’s not the quality of life I wanted when I moved here from Summit.”
Other neighbors, like Stephanie Forsyth who owns a thoroughbred farm on Hubb Shutts Road, said they’re concerned about stray bullets and frightened animals.
Already, her husband, Terry said, the noise from shooting by Mr. Bartholmew and his friends has sent their animals crashing through fences.
“How many personal friends does he have? If he’s running a business on his property, we’ll petition the town to restrict it,” Ms. Forsyth added.
Neighbor Caroline Foote said she, like Mr. Gunther, is a gun owner, but the shooting on the abutting property is negatively impacting her family’s lives.
She’s afraid for her children, she said, and afraid to work in her fields.
Planning Board Chairman Andre Nadeau pointed out that if Mr. Bartholomew had been granted a special use permit for the range, they would have been able to restrict things like hours of operation.
Both he and another neighbor, Councilman Ken Hotopp, suggested the group take its concerns to the Cobleskill town board—which they said afterwards they plan to do.
Mr. Bartholomew’s plans, as detailed in correspondence with the Planning Board, were to build an outdoor shooting range for training law enforcement officials for handguns and shotguns.
It would also be open to the general public.
Mr. Bartholomew is trained in firearms instruction and calls his business On Target Security & Forearms Educators.