Posted: 6/19/2006 12:43:14 PM EDT
|
From the Providence Journal 6/16/06 Landowner concerned about nearby shooting range Russell Dulac is worried that drinking at the Clambake Club might affect trap shooters, but the club cites stringent safety precaustions and says Dulac's new house is out of range. 01:00 AM EDT on Friday, June 16, 2006 By KIA HALL HAYES Journal Staff Writer MIDDLETOWN -- From the deck of his multimillion-dollar home, Sachuest Beach looks serene and peaceful, but there's something ruining Russell Dulac's view. Just 180 feet from his master-bedroom deck is the Clambake Club of Newport and its shotgun trap-shooting range. Dulac says he can hear the shooting from his Tuckerman Avenue home, which is still under construction, but that's not the issue. The Clambake Club, which was founded in 1895, has a liquor license. Dulac says drinking and guns are a dangerous combination. "The issue here is all safety," he said. Dulac, who lives in Newport, bought the property and began building his dream house almost four years ago. He said had no idea the shooting range was so dangerous when he bought the lot. Both properties are in a residential zone. From his deck, two beachgoers are seen heading to the shore through a public right-of-way between the properties. Dulac said the path is about 115 feet from the shooting range. The National Rifle Association's recommended safety zone for domestic shotguns is about 900 feet. Dulac's house and his two neighbors are within range, he said. Club members shoot on Saturday and Sunday mornings, and on Thursday afternoons in the summer months. Clay pigeons, a disc-shaped target, are released in an arc pattern into the air from a trap house on the shore of the property. Members shoot, and the pigeons and shotgun pellets fall into the ocean. A 15-foot bank makes it difficult to see whether anyone's on the beach, so if you're fishing, club members are shooting over your head, Dulac said. Because the properties are next to each other, a shooter facing the ocean would have to make a 90-degree turn to the left to hit his property, but accidents can happen, Dulac said. The club has said members who are drinking are not allowed to shoot, but Dulac wonders how strictly that policy is enforced. The club also says it has never had a shooting accident in its 100-year history, but it has never had residential neighbors until a few years ago, he said. "They've never had an accident at The Station Nightclub until they had an accident," Dulac said. Dulac, his wife, and his six-month-old twin daughters will be moving into the house in weeks. The twins' bedroom window also faces the shooting range. "My wife is terrified," he said. Dulac will ask the Town Council to make the club's shooting activities safe for neighbors during Monday's meeting. Town officials have been researching the club and its shooting range since Dulac appeared before the council last month. "Make it safe, and if you can't make it safe, make it gone," Dulac said. Town Council President Paul Rodrigues, who visited the property about three weeks ago with Town Engineer Warren Hall and Town Administrator Gerald Kempen, said a shooter would have to completely turn around to hit Dulac's property. "It seemed like a pretty organized operation," he said, "but there's two sides to every story." Kempen said that while the shooting range appeareds to be safe and was operated under an experienced range master, "I could see why [Dulac was] concerned about it." Kempen said the club was agreeable to taking steps to make the activity safer, and he has suggested erecting a barrier at the range that would cut down the shooter's angle. "You're not concerned about what's usually going to happen; you're concerned about the worst case," Kempen said. Police Chief Anthony Pesare, who also visited the club, will give the town his recommendations Monday. This isn't the first time a resident has complained to the council about firearms at a social club. The Newport Rifle Club was in the public eye in 2003 when a bullet pierced the wall of a nearby Meadow Lane house. Many believed the bullet had come from the Wyatt Road shooting range, about a half-mile to the south, but investigators ruled out that possibility. Concerned neighbors later encouraged the Town Council to implement strict safety regulations, including requiring the club to seek an annual operating license, but the council narrowly voted against the proposed regulations. The club eventually installed two large bullet-resistant barriers at its shooting range. "So anyway, here we go again," said Brian Bardorf, an attorney for the Clambake Club of Newport. Despite Dulac's concerns, club members who are shooting never drink, he said. The staff is very aware of the rules, and trap-shooting members take safety very seriously. "You just don't fool with guns and alcohol," Bardorf said. Kenneth Lindh, who is chairman of the club's gun committee, said the club's range master has been trap shooting for 40 years. The club also operates in accordance with the Amateur Trap Association, and has adopted additional rules that prohibit anyone who is drinking from observing trap shooting or being on the shooting range. Bardorf said Dulac's accusation that members are behaving irresponsibly "offends the membership of the club." "Safety is our biggest concern. It's our biggest priority," Lindh said. Bardorf said shooters use 12-gauge shotguns loaded with sport pellets that have a range of around 75 yards. At 100 feet, it's like a bug hitting skin, he said. Even if a shooter turned and aimed at Dulac's house, the pellets wouldn't reach his property, Bardorf said. In addition, he said, both the targets and the pellets are biodegradable. Lindh said that club staff check the shores and the water before shooting, and place red signs saying "Danger, shooting in progress" along the coast. Bardorf said the club would be willing to put up a shooting barrier or bring in trees, but those measures may ruin Dulac's view. Besides, Bardorf said, "if you buy a lot next door and you know that a shooting range is there, you kind of shouldn't be surprised," he said. |
|
Hears a update from todays Providence Journal Print it | Discuss it | E-mail it to a friend | Most e-mailed stories Landowner, club are in search of a compromise The Middletown man says that the Clambake Club's trapshooting is unsafe. The club says he's being "un-neighborly." 01:00 AM EDT on Tuesday, June 20, 2006 By KIA HALL HAYES Journal Staff Writer MIDDLETOWN -- Russell Dulac and the Clambake Club of Newport sounded off again before the council, only to be told to work out their differences on their own. Dulac, who is building his multimillion dollar house less than 200 feet away from the 100-year-old club on Tuckerman Avenue, said the club's trapshooting activities are illegal and unsafe. The Clambake Club is violating state law by firing weapons in a compact area, said his attorney, Michael Miller. Even if the club is not located in a compact area, the club must have permission of state and federal governments to fire and leave trapshooting debris on Sachuest Beach. "It's illegal. I don't know how it can continue," said Dulac, of Newport, who is moving into the house with his wife and six-month-old twin daughters when construction is completed next month. Brian Bardorf, the club's attorney, said the club is willing to compromise with Dulac, but wants to ensure that any compromise satisfies the various state agencies to which Dulac has reported the club's activities. Dulac, who came before the council last month, expressed concerns that the club, which was founded in 1895 and holds trapshooting on Thursday nights and Saturday and Sunday mornings, has a liquor license and is polluting the waters. Miller submitted news stories concerning residents in Narragansett, Providence and Middletown who were charged for firing weapons in a compact area. "It is definitely a compact area," he said of Middletown. Town officials weren't so sure. Town Solicitor Vernon Gorton said the state's attorney general's office could not say whether the town of Middletown or the Clambake Club is considered a compact area. "That's one of the problems that I think we have," he said. Town Council Vice President Charles Vaillancourt said he noticed fishermen and surfers on the shore 50 feet away from the club's shooting range. "From that point of view, I see it as a compact area, certainly as a dangerous one," he said. Vaillancourt also noted that Dulac was aware of the club's shooting activities when he bought the property four years ago. "I certainly don't have any sympathy in that regard," he said. Bardorf said that the 4.8-acre space is not a compact area, and that the club has never had a shooting incident in its 100-year history. He said the club uses biodegradable clay pigeons and pellets, and that the effective shooting range for a shotgun using a sporting load is 50 yards. Bardorf reminded the council of the 2003 controversy surrounding the Newport Rifle Club that erupted when a bullet pierced the wall of a nearby Meadow Lane House. Despite public opinion, experts found that the bullet could not have come from the club. "It wasn't broken and should not be fixed," Bardorf of that club. He also told the council that all shooting activities at the Clambake Club occur under the supervision of an experienced range master. The Clambake Club follows strict rules prohibiting members who are shooting trap from drinking, and barring members who drink from observing trapshooting activities. Bardorf said Dulac was, "a neighbor being very unneighborly." Councilman Louis DiPalma said that while the club has an excellent track record, its liquor license could indicate "accidents waiting to happen." Town Council President Paul Rodrigues, who observed the club on Sunday, said the club needs appropriate signage for non-English-speaking residents on the shore and in the public right-of-way between the properties. "If you stood on his property, put yourself in his shoes, it's not unreasonable," he said. While not allowing that the club is acting irresponsibly, Bardorf said the club would not object to erecting a barrier or another compromise. Miller also said that his client would meet with the club's executives to reach an agreement. Dulac, however, was not satisfied. Before the council moved on to the next item, he told the council he wanted the club's shooting activities out of range from house, alcohol removed from the premises, and for the club to get approval for state or federal agencies. "Somebody was going to develop. It's a residential lot," he said. |