http://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/local/ci_6442845
Housing plan under fire
By Aaron Wasserman
Sentinel & Enterprise
Article Launched:07/23/2007 09:57:59 AM EDT
LEOMINSTER -- Rifle shots, coming from the firing range around the corner, filled the background of mid-morning conversations on the front porch of the Leominster Sportsmen's Association on Sunday.
An hour later and a few hundred feet farther south on Elm Street, where four new homes are slated for construction in a picturesque part of town, the shots were still clearly audible.
"They're going to hear it, there's no doubt about that," said David Letters, a spokesman and board member of the sportsmen's club. "And in the winter, when the air is thinner, the sound gets louder and travels farther."
The sportsmen's association has rallied together in the past week to oppose a new residential development that would be adjacent to their 550-acre complex just north of the city line with Sterling. The city's police department also has a practice range on the sportsmen's property.
Though only four homes of a planned dozen have received final city approval so far, club members say there are a handful of issues that will complicate a relationship between suburban subdivision living and sportsmen who use the adjacent land for recreational hunting, firing and target practice.
"There's going to be a conflict here," said Walter Sysun, a 53-year-old Sterling resident who has been an association member for the past five years. "Anytime you mix a residential neighborhood with a sporting complex, there's going to be a conflict."
Brian Kleinknecht, who was practicing his shot next to Sysun at the rifle range Sunday morning, said prospective buyers need to know what they'll be getting themselves into by living near a range.
"They should know there's a range here from the moment they buy the property and that we're going to be here," said Kleinknecht, a 45-year Clinton resident and association member for the past decade.
They stressed public safety is not an issue with the range because it is pointed away from the building site and they take many precautions while practicing. But Gary Bergeron, the association president, who leads the Wachusett Mountain Men through the club's vast woods on pre-1830-style outdoor trips, said he is worried about safety.
"It could potentially be a problem because you don't know who will be on the land," Bergeron, 53, said. "With four homes, you don't know what the children situation will be."
Besides the shooting, members also said they're concerned about the homes' potential environmental impact on the adjacent Bartlett Pond and swamp, which eventually feed into Wachusett Reservoir.
Daniel J. McCarty, whose city firm is proposing the development, said in an interview this week he's confident in the project.
When asked if he's concerned about the nearby firing ranges, he said, "If we were, we wouldn't be doing the project." He has also disputed the claim the four homes will lead to environmental harm, explaining they're frontage lots that don't create any new drainage.
McCarty added there shouldn't be any legal concerns about the project because the police firing range is exempted from state laws governing how close firearms can be discharged from homes and their noise levels.
The city's planning board approved the four homes at its meeting last week. The board has also given preliminary approval to a subdivision for the other eight homes, two of which will be located in Sterling.
But Letters said the sportsmen's association opposes a final approval for the eight homes. He said he respects McCarty but believes the homes will negatively affect the long-term future of the association's property and metro Boston residents, who receive drinking water from the Wachusett Reservoir.
"This is not going to be a walk in the park," Letters said. "I'm a bee that's going to protect his territory. If you come near me, you're going to get stung."
He said he's most concerned about lawn fertilizers and stormwater runoff from the residential development harming Bartlett Pond, and expects state environmental officials to think similarly.
But McCarty said the property owners, with whom he now has an agreement to buy the 37-acre parcel, already tried the conservation route. They offered the land to the city and sportsmen's association for permanent preservation, and both declined to buy it.
"Therefore, my client elected to proceed with the other authorized and approved process of the subdivision to sell the property," McCarty said. "He offered it to two other agencies and they said no, they don't want it."
Housing plan under fire
By Aaron Wasserman
Sentinel & Enterprise
Article Launched:07/23/2007 09:57:59 AM EDT
LEOMINSTER -- Rifle shots, coming from the firing range around the corner, filled the background of mid-morning conversations on the front porch of the Leominster Sportsmen's Association on Sunday.
An hour later and a few hundred feet farther south on Elm Street, where four new homes are slated for construction in a picturesque part of town, the shots were still clearly audible.
"They're going to hear it, there's no doubt about that," said David Letters, a spokesman and board member of the sportsmen's club. "And in the winter, when the air is thinner, the sound gets louder and travels farther."
The sportsmen's association has rallied together in the past week to oppose a new residential development that would be adjacent to their 550-acre complex just north of the city line with Sterling. The city's police department also has a practice range on the sportsmen's property.
Though only four homes of a planned dozen have received final city approval so far, club members say there are a handful of issues that will complicate a relationship between suburban subdivision living and sportsmen who use the adjacent land for recreational hunting, firing and target practice.
"There's going to be a conflict here," said Walter Sysun, a 53-year-old Sterling resident who has been an association member for the past five years. "Anytime you mix a residential neighborhood with a sporting complex, there's going to be a conflict."
Brian Kleinknecht, who was practicing his shot next to Sysun at the rifle range Sunday morning, said prospective buyers need to know what they'll be getting themselves into by living near a range.
"They should know there's a range here from the moment they buy the property and that we're going to be here," said Kleinknecht, a 45-year Clinton resident and association member for the past decade.
They stressed public safety is not an issue with the range because it is pointed away from the building site and they take many precautions while practicing. But Gary Bergeron, the association president, who leads the Wachusett Mountain Men through the club's vast woods on pre-1830-style outdoor trips, said he is worried about safety.
"It could potentially be a problem because you don't know who will be on the land," Bergeron, 53, said. "With four homes, you don't know what the children situation will be."
Besides the shooting, members also said they're concerned about the homes' potential environmental impact on the adjacent Bartlett Pond and swamp, which eventually feed into Wachusett Reservoir.
Daniel J. McCarty, whose city firm is proposing the development, said in an interview this week he's confident in the project.
When asked if he's concerned about the nearby firing ranges, he said, "If we were, we wouldn't be doing the project." He has also disputed the claim the four homes will lead to environmental harm, explaining they're frontage lots that don't create any new drainage.
McCarty added there shouldn't be any legal concerns about the project because the police firing range is exempted from state laws governing how close firearms can be discharged from homes and their noise levels.
The city's planning board approved the four homes at its meeting last week. The board has also given preliminary approval to a subdivision for the other eight homes, two of which will be located in Sterling.
But Letters said the sportsmen's association opposes a final approval for the eight homes. He said he respects McCarty but believes the homes will negatively affect the long-term future of the association's property and metro Boston residents, who receive drinking water from the Wachusett Reservoir.
"This is not going to be a walk in the park," Letters said. "I'm a bee that's going to protect his territory. If you come near me, you're going to get stung."
He said he's most concerned about lawn fertilizers and stormwater runoff from the residential development harming Bartlett Pond, and expects state environmental officials to think similarly.
But McCarty said the property owners, with whom he now has an agreement to buy the 37-acre parcel, already tried the conservation route. They offered the land to the city and sportsmen's association for permanent preservation, and both declined to buy it.
"Therefore, my client elected to proceed with the other authorized and approved process of the subdivision to sell the property," McCarty said. "He offered it to two other agencies and they said no, they don't want it."
