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The Lansing Rod & Gun Club was issued a building permit Wednesday that will allow them to move forward with a plan to swap shooting range locations, remove a shooting pavilion, and replace two trap houses on its 113 acre Ludlowville site.  The changes to the layout are in response to a federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) consent order to stop shooting lead shot into Salmon Creek and nearby wetlands and prevent lead from entering those areas.  Lansing Code/Fire Enforcement Officer & Building Inspector said Wednesday that a new plan meets zoning conditions for the RA (Rural/Agriculture) zone and that uses that do not comply are lawful pre-existing uses.

"I issued a permit today with the condition that they can put storm water control measures in place and remove the pavilion now, but there is to be no more land clearing and no construction until he gets the DEC approval back," Day said.  "The plans do not call for use of any portion of their 113 acre parcel that had not already been in use, including for shooting.  Their club will be using the same land areas after these plans were implemented as were being used for decades.  So based on the building permit application and plan review the Town of Lansing Land Use Ordinance, specifically Article 10, Non-conforming Uses - it is my opinion that this is an existing non-conforming use with no site plan, special permit or dBA review required."

Lansing Town Supervisor Ed LaVigne said the two issues that impact the club's plan are environmental impact and zoning.  But of the two, only zoning is within the Town's jurisdiction.

"When you start dealing with federal environmental laws, you start dealing with federal preemption," said Town Attorney Guy Krogh. "The town doesn't have authority to order lead cleanup or to order compliance with any type of federal order that is issued.  For instance, the EPA has issued what is called a 'Consent Order'.  The landowner has agreed to make certain changes to the site and comply with certain requirements that the EPA promulgates and approves through the federal rule making process.  If they get the consent order, then their violation of that order is within the ambit of the EPA to enforce, not the Town.  We don't have federal jurisdiction."

The club has been working with EPA since 2013, when an EPA representative arranged an inspection that was carried out that December.  The inspector determined that shooting was taking place near Salmon creek, and asked for more information about shooting practices there.  Club officials replied with a letter saying it had 132 paying members, and told the EPA that of it's over 100 acres only around five were used for shooting.  The letter noted that Salmon Creek cut across the trap and rifle range, and was about 325 feet from the trap stands.  The letter also said there had not been any lead reclamation events on any of its ranges.

The consent order was issued in August of 2016. It gave the club 180 days to take all necessary measures to ensure "no shooting activities in which lead ammunition is used occur at the Club."  It further said that the Club could submit a plan to the EPA for relocating the "shooting platforms", and set deadlines for submitting and implementing the plan.

With little recent information coming from either the club or the federal agency neighbors were outspoken in their concern for public safety and health issues, claiming that the Club had far exceeded the deadlines outlined in the consent order, and that the EPA wasn't doing nearly enough to make sure that lead discharged since the club's inception hadn't poisoned the surrounding area, including the creek and parts of Ludlowville.  At one point over a hundred people signed a petition to demand action be taken.  After a contentious public hearing on an earlier version of the plan last March, the club withdrew its plan.  Despite public outcry for town officials to take action, with no application before them they couldn't do much, and had no solid information to impart or act on.

After the first plan was withdrawn there was much public outcry about possible lead contamination resulting from more than a half century of shooting on the property.  At that time Lansing Town Supervisor said the Town would pursue lead testing in Ludlowville, around Salmon Creek and Ludlowville Falls, and at the Bolton Point Municipal Water System.  LaVigne said Wednesday that the Town had requested the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) test the water in the Ludlowville areas, but has not, to date, received a reply.  He also reported that Bolton Point had already tested its water and found it to be safe.


On September 28th the Rod & Gun Club submitted a new building application for a warming hut, and two trap houses, approximately 10 x 10 feet, together with a storm water and erosion control plan.  The plan presented the relocation of trap and rifle/pistol ranges by swapping their locations.  Meanwhile the club had begun clearing land until Day issued a Stop Work Order on the basis that the land disturbance was on more than an acre, which triggers a requirement for an approved Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) before work can commence.

Day said the Town Engineer had received and reviewed the SWPPP, and on that basis, along with Day's review of the new plan and Lansing land use ordinances, the building permit was issued, but with the conditions that no further clearing or building will occur until the DEC approves the SWPPP.

"When they originally came in they asked what they had to do before we saw a plan," Day said. "I (told them what is required), and they saw what I said and they were going to do it.  When they went to the (Planning Board) meeting it got kind of heated, very emotional.  They kind of stepped back to seek advice, withdrew their application, and then came back with a plan with a building permit application and stormwater plan.  If you dig back into the ordinance, Article 10, it says they are allowed to do what they want to do."


Currently the club has two trap fields, two pistol/rifle ranges, and a long rifle range.  The plan calls for swapping range locations, and eliminating the long range rifle range and shooting pavilion altogether.  Two trap houses will be removed and replaced on the new trap fields.  The land area of the existing trap fields and rifle/pistol ranges (almost 11 acres total) will be reduced to just short of four acres.  A new shooting range that would have shot toward neighbors Lisa Ruzicka and Tim Farrell's home has been rotated so that bullets will go toward the east, rather than north toward their house, and Day said the club plans to plant trees to further buffer active club areas from their property.  Impervious areas will also be reduced.  About 2.3 acres of timber harvest is proposed.

Day said that the plan meets all the conditions in Town law.  He quoted Article 10 of the Lansing Land Use ordinance extensively, which deals with non-conforming uses.

"My opinion is that the Rod & Gub Club was in place in the late 1950s to early 1960s before there were any Town and zoning regulations," he explained. "Therefore this is a lawful pre-existing nonconforming use.  The swapping of the trap, rifle and pistol ranges will actually take up less total area -- 4.64 acres less -- based on engineering drawings the site is shrinking.  The plan shows compliance of RA zoning setbacks of 15 feet on the sides and rear and 60 feet from the center of the road, and the buildings are not increasing in size.  The club is not proposing to expand, enlarge or replace anything.  Their proposal is to have a smaller footprint than what they are using now.  it is the opinion of this zoning officer that swapping range locations, and thus using the same land, and even a smaller footprint concept plan does not trigger the standard of review."

"Some people will say if you look at Schedule 1, Section 503 'Land Use Activities' it will tell you that a shooting club is permitted in the RA zone with site plan review by the Planning Board and also the Town Board," Day added. "But that is for a new club, period -- not for an existing club."

While the building permit addresses concerns that are within Town jurisdiction, the controversy over the impact of lead bullets discharged near wetlands and Salmon Creek remains contentious. Krogh advised that in cases where the federal agency has jurisdiction, municipalities have the same recourse any private citizen would have, but nothing more.  He said he could not speak for the EPA, but his understanding is that the club is working with the agency to meet the requirements of the consent order.

"I know that the EPA has a consent order that is standing," Krogh said. "I know they have made some determinations about where things stand with the land remediation.  Their goals seem to be to end the deposition of lead in wetlands and the creek.  Their position appears to be that with compliance with the consent order that would occur. The Town doesn't turn it whether or not lead has to be cleaned up or how it's cleaned up.  The town, in that respect, is like any other citizen. It can bring an independent action in federal court if it chooses to, but it doesn't have jurisdiction to make an EPA determination for the EPA."

Since the July public hearing LaVigne has insured that updates be part of each Town meeting because the plan has stirred up such strong emotion among townspeople.  He noted on Wednesday that reporting details of a building permit application's progress publicly is unusual. 

"We're going above and beyond the normal protocol, but I also understand the emotion of the issue," he said.  "This isn't normally the practice we follow when we issue building permits.  But because of the sensitivity and concerns of citizens, we felt it was important that we give some clarity to what the plan actually is, and what's going on and what's been proposed.  From the Town's point of view this is a zoning concern.  That's where building permits and such come in, and that is the Town issue.  The environmental concern is the EPA, which they've been working on since 2016."

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