Tom Nobile

Staff Writer, @TomNobile

RAMSEY — Developers proposing a 60,620-square-foot indoor firing range in the borough brought forth a civil engineer Tuesday night to testify before the Planning Board on aspects of the project’s parking layout and water drainage.

Civil engineer Patrick Lynam testified on behalf of the full-service firing range — to be named The Screaming Eagle Club — which would have 67 firing stalls, a space for retail sales, gun rentals and a restaurant. Members would have access to locker and bath facilities, and a country-club-style room with a fireplace, billiards and gaming.

The developer is proposing 218 parking stalls.

Questions arose from the board Tuesday night about the potential for lead and other contamination from bullets to escape the facility and filter into a nearby stream.

James Jaworksi, an attorney for the range, said this would not occur because of disposal and air filtration systems that are proposed.

“This is not a circumstance where lead in any way, shape or form will make its way into the environment,” he said.

RELATED: Bid to alter Ramsey gun law may thwart firing range

RELATED: Second Amendment fight brewing in Ramsey

RELATED: Opponents of proposed Ramsey gun range mobilize

Lyman said the project will not require permits from the state Department of Environmental Protection, because the proposal will reduce the property’s current drainage by reducing impervious coverage.

Board member Joe Carey said there is “a lot of concern about the safety of the facility” among the community over the influx of weapons onsite. He and other board members suggested the developer install a 6-foot-tall fence around the property’s perimeter to deter people who wouldn’t enter through the main parking lot.

Marc Leibman, an attorney challenging the project on behalf of a resident, disputed the number of proposed parking spaces. He calculated that the range could have 326 occupants at its peak — spread among restaurant, clubhouse and firing range — left to park in only 218 spaces.

Determining the peak use of the facility will be difficult given its "unique" scope, he said.

“We really don’t know what the intensity of the use is going to be,” Leibman said.

At more than 60,000 square feet, no other range in the state would match the size and scope of this venture, Pennsylvania developer Peter Cuttone has said.

The only other rivaling gun facility in North Jersey is Gun for Hire, a 16,000-square-foot range in Woodland Park. Late last year, the range broke ground on a $12 million, 55,000-square-foot expansion.

Since the Ramsey project's introduction in January, petitions have emerged supporting and opposing the range, garnering hundreds of signatures. The Borough Council also has introduced an ordinance that would effectively block the range, by amending local laws to ban the use of firearms anywhere in the borough.

The ordinance has been threatened with litigation by a gun rights advocacy group and the firing range's developer. Alexander Roubian, president of the New Jersey Second Amendment Society, has said his organization will file a complaint in federal court if the ordinance is adopted.

The borough in turn has mounted a legal defense, retaining New York law firm Troutman Sanders on a pro bono basis to defend the ordinance against litigation.

At the Planning Board level, resident Chance Parker has created a legal fund to challenge the application. To date, it has raised $21,960 of its $25,000 goal, money that would help hire an independent planner, engineer and environmental consultant to review the application.

Another hearing is scheduled on June 20 for testimony by the developer’s traffic engineer.

Leibman said he will also bring forth his own traffic expert.

RELATED: Elmwood Park man fatally shoots self at 'Gun for Hire' range in Woodland Park

RELATED: Gun rentals at ranges may pose concerns; at least 7 recent suicides in N.J.