BRUNSWICK

Councilor John Perreault asked the town council on Tuesday to look into the town’s ability to regulate shooting ranges in the wake of complaints and concerns expressed regarding noise and safety in the Rocky Hill area.

Perreault said the complaints originated from the Wood Lawn neighborhood.

According to Perreault, the resident who owns the range approached the police department, who assisted them in positioning the range toward Rocky Hill and gave permission to operate the range.

After receiving numerous complaints from the Wood Lawn association, Perreault said the town attorney was notified to look into what, if any, action can be taken.

Town Manager John Eldridge concurred the range was approved under the town weapons ordinance, adding there has also been complaints regarding another shooting range in East Brunswick.

Eldridge said the town attorney was asked to look into both local and state statutes, saying the major complaint was regarding noise levels.

Eldridge said after reviewing current laws, the town’s ability to regulate shooting ranges is fairly limited.

According to Maine law, municipalities do not have the right to impose municipal “noise control” ordinances upon lawfully constructed ranges. Municipalities can only regulate the location and construction of new sport ranges or substantial changes to an existing range.

Kristin Collins of Preti Flaherty attorneys suggested that the town continue to apply the permitting standards under the ordinance, noting the process will provide an annual opportunity to address concerns with the owners.

“If there is one that really poses a problem, it’s something we’ll just have to look at in great detail in terms of whether we can do anything to enforce that,” Collins said.

Collins said if a shooting range does not comply with certain best practices and the town is to ensure safety, then there is a way to enforce town ordinances against it, but “it’s in very limited circumstances so we’d have to look closely.”

Councilor Dave Watson, who crafted the town weapons ordinance, said Brunswick’s ordinance is possibly the most restrictive in the state.

The town weapons ordinance regulates distances from dwellings when discharging a firearm, differences between commercial, non-commercial ranges, zoning ordinances and the physical construction of such ranges. It also limits shooting between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.

Al Ghoreyeb addressed the council, saying he’s been a hunter and gun owner his whole life and he’s “not in the habit of keeping people from doing things they love.”

Ghoreyeb said he’s lived in his neighborhood for 14 years and there are currently 13 families living there; Ghoreyeb was speaking on behalf of nine of them.

“If we would have moved out there and there had been a range that would have been our decision. But we’ve been living there a long time, enjoying the privacy and quiet,” Ghoreyeb said.

Ghoreyeb said he didn’t know anything about the range until the shooting started about a year ago. He said the range is heavily used, with rifles and small arms, sometimes for hours on end.

Problems the neighbors are concerned about range from the fact that it’s unsupervised, to the noise level, to adverse affects on the valuation of their homes.

“The range is only about 200 yards behind the neighborhood and so when they start shooting it doesn’t matter whether you’re outside or inside — it’s severe, it’s pervasive and it just permeates the house,” Ghoreyeb said.

Following discussions, Watson volunteered to work with Perreault in reviewing and developing policies that work within both local and state laws to address possible concerns.

dmcintire@timesrecord.com

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