We side with Peabody Ward 5 City Councilor Joel Saslaw’s request to allow residents in Huntingwood and other neighborhoods to comment on Northeast Arms’ plan to operate a mobile gun range.
Northeast won city Zoning Board of Appeals approval Monday to operate the range — a trailer that can be towed to police departments for use for target practice — with conditions including 50-foot and 100-foot buffer zones around the trailer when it is on Northeast’s property.
Neighbors’ concerns ranging from traffic to noise and property value depreciation were not reviewed during Monday’s hearing because, as board Chair Fran Gallugi pointed out, board members were only responsible for reviewing Northeast’s request for a variance from buffer zone dimension requirements.
That narrow jurisdiction focus left neighbors and Saslaw frustrated and wondering why they weren’t told well before Monday’s hearing that noise and other concerns about the Northeast proposal were not the board’s responsibility.
Saslaw pointed out that Northeast’s proposal has been before the board for months, adding that “people asked for information a while ago.”
Saslaw told board members there was no reason they could not delay their vote until neighbors had the opportunity to voice their complaints to other city officials to ensure that concerns beyond the zoning board’s jurisdiction received review.
“There should be no rush here,” Saslaw told the board.
But Gallugi and board member Barry Osborne made it clear during Monday’s hearing that their support for Northeast’s proposal went beyond buffer zone compliance. Gallugi called the mobile range “…something we could benefit from in the long run,” and Osborne warned that not approving the proposal was tantamount to discouraging business on Route 1.
Peabody neighbors deserve better than a one-and-done hearing where their concerns are not taken into consideration. We urge the board to reconsider its vote and delay it until residents’ concerns are addressed and questions answered.
