The final report of an independent safety evaluation, being commissioned by Cape Elizabeth town officials at the 61-year-old shooting range on Sawyer Road, is expected to be submitted to the town by the end of the week, according to Cape Elizabeth Police Sgt. Paul Fenton.
Fenton, a member of the Cape Elizabeth Firing Range Committee, gave a brief update on the long-awaited safety report at the Town Council meeting Monday, moments before councilors unanimously accepted the committee’s findings and recommendations regarding the Spurwink Rod & Gun Club’s first renewal license application.
Town councilors on Monday accepted a handful of other recommendations by various committees in town that aim to address several ongoing issues, including the future care needs of Cape Elizabeth residents ages 60 and over. That report will be discussed further at a future council workshop.
Councilors also heard – and accepted – a proposal by the town’s mediation workgroup to provide residents with the tools they need to resolve neighborhood disputes, rather than going to the Town Council. A link will be added to the town’s website for residents to seek trained mediators and brochures will be distributed at various locations in town.
The council also set a hearing for Sept. 14 to determine whether to issue a license to the Spurwink Rod & Gun Club.
In the wake of ongoing noise and safety complaints at the shooting range, Tammy Walter, the gun club’s president, said members have spent $38,000 in the last year modernizing the shooting range. In the last 21?2 months, it has spent an additional $22,000 in range improvements, said Walter.
“Our goal is to provide our members and the town of Cape Elizabeth with the best and safest shooting facility in Maine,” she said.
Mark Mayone, member of the gun club and the Firing Range Committee, said the club has completed about 60 percent of its renovations, which began in December 2014.
“We plan on finishing our major upgrades in approximately three years,” Mayone said.
Ed Nadeau, a resident who lives in the Cross Hill Road development adjacent to the shooting range, requested that the council defer scheduling the public hearing until it receives the independent safety report. A number of Cross Hill residents have concerns about the Firing Range Committee’s recommendations, according to Nadeau.
Among other items, the committee recommends that the Town Council ask the safety evaluator to comment on the club’s design phasing plans and how it will achieve shot containment. It is also asking the council to consider changing the weekend shooting range hours to limit noise, and review and compare the town’s liability insurance requirement to other local shooting range standards.
Councilors also voted to refer a set of zoning changes to the ordinance committee that aim to regulate the rental of residential properties in Cape Elizabeth as for-profit wedding venues.
On Monday the council accepted a proposal by the Planning Board to allow weddings and other events on residential properties that meet certain criteria in the special events facility ordinance. In June, in addition to approving the new set of rules, the Planning Board also approved amendments to the town’s zoning map that would allow the Sprague Corp., which owns Ram Island Farm, to continue advertising and hosting weddings and other events at the Wentworth Lodge that require a rental fee.
Planning Board Chairman Peter Curry said, under the ordinance, residents would be required to add their property to the overlay district and get site plan approval every three years if they want to host weddings or other special events on their properties.
Julie Sprague, a Cape resident who is not on the Sprague Corp. board but is a member of the Sprague family, requested more information from the Town Council on the new restrictions. She agreed that the ordinance was “reasonable” in that it requires residents who are charging rental fees for events on their properties to meet ordinance requirements.
McGovern said the special events ordinance “is an attempt to be permissive. Under the current (zoning) ordinance, if someone wants to rent out a property anywhere in town for a commercial purpose, they are essentially not allowed to do it.”
Residents interested in hosting weddings on a regular basis must have properties that measure 15 acres. In addition, they can only hold up to 12 weddings per year and each wedding cannot exceed 275 people, including guests and staff. In addition, amplified music would only be permitted between 9 a.m. and 10 p.m., and each event is limited to eight hours, excluding set-up and breakdown.
Ordinance committee members will review the zoning changes before sending a recommendation to the council.
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