Shooting range in crossfire - Homeowner, firearm instructor in squabble
Published:Thursday | June 18, 2020 | 12:00 AMMark Titus/Gleaner
Firearm instructor Christine Green is hoping to reach a compromise with businessman Mario Ennis to end a long-standing feud over the location of an outdoor shooting range in Sheffield, Westmoreland, that is designated as a residential zone.
“I have tried to arrange mediation between Mr Ennis and myself, but he has refused to sit at the table,” Green told The Gleaner in an interview on Monday. “... There is just no middle ground.”
But Ennis, whose family home overlooks the Negril Tactical Shooting Range operated by Green, is adamant that if the stipulations of the Town and Country Planning Provisional Development Order were followed, Green would not have been given the go-ahead to continue.
“All she needs to do, seeing that she does not want to relocate, is build an indoor facility,” Ennis said. In his defence, he has cited the Town and Country (Planning Provisional) Development Order which specifies that an indoor shooting range can be accommodated. There is no stated allowance for an outdoor range.
“The FLA is doing nothing, and NEPA is a disgrace,” said Ennis, in reference to the Firearm Licensing Authority and the National Environment and Planning Agency.
“My family has to endure the stress after I work hard to make them comfortable? I will not stop until the right thing is done.”
However, in response to queries from The Gleaner, NEPA said that it has the power under Section 12 (1A) of the Town and Country Planning Act, 1958 to grant planning permission for developments that are not in conformity with the order.
The environmental regulator said that the facility existed for a number of years - prior to Green taking over in 2007 - and that it took a decision to grant planning permission for the ‘Continuance of Use’ subject to a number of conditions to mitigate against noise nuisance and to ensure residential safety.
NEPA also said that a survey was conducted within a half-mile radius of the shooting range.
“Seventy residents within the radius were interviewed between the hours of 4:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.,” the email from NEPA said. “The authority gave consideration to the main concerns of noise and the safety of residents, and the appropriate mitigation measures were included in the permit to address these concerns.”
While consideration was given to restricting shooting to the indoors, relocation of the range was not explored, NEPA said.
The regulator said that it relied on the FLA, whose officials revisited the location, to conduct an inspection that focused on that concern.
Green, who is the only female gun range owner in Jamaica, has been training firearm applicants at the location, which was then registered as the Negril Gun Club under different management, since 2007.
She was invited as an instructor and would subsequently take over the operation before rebranding in 2014.
Green, who, along with her husband, is the registered owner of Negril Tactical Shooting Range Limited, has rubbished claims that the value of residential properties has dropped or that the noise is affecting a school and a church.
“All of this is orchestrated by one man. The residents have no problem with my range. The police can attest to that,” she said.
However, Ennis is determined to secure peace and tranquility and has sworn to keep on fighting until the right thing is done.
“If an indoor facility was there as stipulated, I would be fine,” he said. “I am the one who has to deal with the noise, and it has affected my wife’s health. It is affecting my children, and I will not stop fighting even if I am the only one standing.”