A potential commercial shooting range in the Town of New Paltz could face numerous hurdles before approval by the planning board, chiefly its proximity to neighbors and the potential for wetlands disturbance.
Ryan Sloan, a veteran of the U.S. Army and special education teacher at West Point Elementary School, came before the town planning board on Monday, March 10, for what’s called a free conceptual review, which allows applicants to get feedback prior to formally submitting site or subdivision plans. Sloan, along with his attorney J. Benjamin Gailey of Walden-based J&G Law, LLP, discussed conceptual plans for a shooting range at 43 Tracy Road, a 24.3-acre property in the Agricultural-3 (A3) zoning district.
Sloan, a certified firearms instructor “committed to responsible firearms safety” said he wanted to work with the planning board and community to “establish a safe and well-structured range that aligns with existing regulations.”
Sloan’s concept would place the shooting range on the upland portion of the property, which has been delineated by a wetlands consultant. A map provided as part of the conceptual review shows a narrow 150-meter-long range with a 100-foot buffer separating the shooting area from wetlands. The plans also include an 8-foot-high wall of unspecified material along both sides of the range, and a 12-foot-high dirt wall behind the target area.
Planning board members cited concerns with potential wetlands disturbance as well as the proximity of 17 residences from the property, some of which are located across the New York State Thruway.
“We’d need to have our wetlands inspector involved at some point,” said planning board deputy chair Lyle Nolan. “And I guess I’m a little bit concerned there are 17 houses within 100 yards of there and the impact on their life. These are not farms, they are regular houses.”
Nolan also mentioned Woodland Pond, a senior living community also across the Thruway, but further away than the residences in question.
Chairperson Adele Ruger agreed that noise could be a potential issue.
“I don’t know how we can figure out the noise thing in advance of the project’s happening,” she said. “For me, that is a big issue. You have 17 neighbors.”
Ruger asked if Sloan would be willing to demonstrate how the noise might travel by shooting in the area of the range with planning board members standing at a distance that best approximates the closest residential property.
“I’d do it for free,” Sloan said. “I wouldn’t even charge you back.”
The conceptual plans hope to avoid not only the wetlands but also the buffer by setting up parking at the entrance to the property and having customers walk to the range rather than widening the single-lane gravel drive to allow for two-way traffic. Sloan said he had yet to determine the amount of parking he’d plan for, but that it would be part of a formal application.
“Wherever that parking is going to be, that’s going to be a concern,” said planning board member Matthew DiDonna.
Ruger agreed that the wetlands issue would be a key component to the viability of the shooting range.
“We are pretty strict about the wetlands,” she said. “If you can figure out parking without disturbing the wetlands, then maybe we have a shot at this.”
Sloan is also hoping that his shooting range would be a permitted use with site plan approval in the A3 district based on a 2019 report by consultant Barton & Logudice about Mid-Hudson Sporting Clays, located around two miles from Tracy Road at 411 North Ohioville Road and also in the A3 zoning district. The issue arose when Mid-Hudson Shooting Clays was looking to expand their operation, with the consultant claiming it was a “recreation use” under town laws.
“It is a special permit use,” said Gailey. “It is a permitted use provided you comply with the standards for special permits.”
Town officials were less certain.
“I do think we would want the building inspector to weigh in on the permissibility of the use,” said planning board attorney Ashley Torre. “I thought that Mid-Hudson Shooting Clays was a preexisting nonconforming. I understand what the consultant might have said, but of course, the building inspector is the one to interpret the code. I think that would definitely be a first step.”
Ruger suggested that the next step would be to have Justin Bowe, the town’s building inspector and municipal code officer make a determination about whether a shooting range would be a permissible recreation use in the A3 district, and if so, then submit a formal application.
The next meeting of the planning board is scheduled for Monday, March 24.
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