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Fairfield Twp. questions fire range permits

Officials say shooting  site was illegally  expanded or improved.

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By Michael D. Pitman, Staff Writer Updated 9:15 AM Thursday, March 18, 2010

FAIRFIELD TWP. — Due to a lack of response, township officials believe Hamilton city officials didn’t acquire the proper permits for property improvements at the Hamilton Police Department shooting range.

The township’s law director Jack Grove and Fairfield Twp. Trustee Steve Morgan said city officials have not produced any documented proof to permit remodeling and electrical work done on the indoor range and classroom building in the late 1990s. They also said there’s no proof a tower — which is part of an obstacle course — was permitted.

“We’ve been waiting since June to talk with them again,” Morgan said, referring to a 2009 meeting with Hamilton officials.

Hamilton police Chief Neil Ferdelman disagrees with the allegation the facility was illegally expanded or improved. Hamilton’s law director Hillary Stevenson deferred comments to the chief.

“The allegations that we added to the building or changed it substantially, that’s not true,” Ferdelman said.

The chief said he does not consider the tower a structure. He sees it simply as part of the facility’s obstacle course.

“It’s just a wood structure that has several outdoor platforms on it,” Ferdelman said.

Hamilton officials could not provide the Fairfield Echo with permits either from Fairfield Twp. or Butler County for facility improvements after the newspaper made a public records request.

Grove said the last written correspondence he’s received from Stevenson was in September, and his request for information and documents has yet to be satisfied.

The questions were raised after some residents began to complain about increased noise levels from the range. At it’s worst, Headgates Road resident Barney Landry said, “The shooting began to sound like a war.”

Landry was the first chair of the township’s board of zoning appeals in the 1970s. He later served on the zoning commission into the 1990s. He’s never seen a request to improve the range.

Ron Hacker lives next door to the range. The noise has improved a little, he said.

“None of us has been happy with the amount of shooting that’s going on,” said Hacker, a 33-year Headgates resident. “We understand the necessity of it. But over the years it’s gotten louder and more frequent.”

Thomas Lee, an Oak Ridge Drive resident, said in his 20 years the noise hasn’t been significant.

Contact this reporter at (513) 755-5112 or mpitman@coxohio.com.

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