Plans for East Side shooting range scrapped (The Columbus Dispatch 3/4/10)
anita parker
Plan for East Side shooting range scrapped
Thursday, March 4, 2010 9:42 PM
Updated: Thursday, March 4, 2010 11:24 PM
By Mark Ferenchik and Jim Woods
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Facing heavy neighborhood opposition, a developer has canceled plans for a shooting range inside a former appliance store on the East Side.
Anchor Companies of Columbus said in a letter dated Tuesday and sent to the Livingston Avenue Area Commission and others that it won't go forward with its plans for 1030 Alum Creek Dr. "As a result of the opposition and our effort to be a responsible developer, we are pulling the shooting range from our redevelopment plans for this site," said Jason Gunsorek, an agent for Anchor Government Properties.
Anchor, which owns the former Sun TV appliance store, had contracted with a group from Canada to operate a gun store and range. The site also was to include a supply store for police and firefighters, self-defense training and safety-related products. All of those plans are now canceled. Anchor had obtained a special permit for the plans from the Livingston Avenue Area Commission last fall, and the city's zoning board had affirmed it.
Bryan Boatright, vice chairman for the Livingston Avenue Area Commission, expressed disappointment last night with Anchor's decision. "I think a responsible business was run out of this area without a fair shot," Boatright said. He said the commission has developed a good relationship with Anchor officials and will work with them to find another tenant for the former appliance store. "We don't want a big, giant vacant building," he said.
Boatright said he believes that pressure from city officials and the neighborhood forced Anchor's decision. When residents learned about the shooting range, they came out in force against it. Some said that it was the last thing the neighborhood needed because it already has a problem with gun violence. Gina Hawthorne-Hill, a Driving Park community leader, said in November, "We don't need membership in a shooting range. They shoot out here every day."
A number of neighborhood groups banded together to fight the plans, filing appeals in Franklin County Common Pleas Court. The Columbus Compact, the Driving Park Civic Association and Driving Park Civic Coalition joined in the fight. And in December, Mayor Michael B. Coleman wrote a letter to his development director, Boyce Safford III, saying he shared the concerns of residents who opposed the business, calling the proposed firing range and a new adult bookstore nearby "potentially harmful developments."
The protests had an effect.
"It is not our intent or purpose to be a nemesis in the neighborhood that will ultimately support the business that occupies our properties, but rather to be a responsible developer and citizen in the community," Gunsorek wrote in this week's letter. Jonathan Beard, president and chief executive officer of the Columbus Compact, called Anchor's decision great news and said it shows that the company wants to be a good neighbor.
Copies of Gunsorek's letter were received yesterday by Beard, Boatright, Michael Aaron of the Livingston Avenue Area Commission and James Johnson of the Driving Park Civic Association. Gunsorek said Anchor will search for alternative locations for a shooting range, but he said the developer will take time in that process to educate and interact with the community.
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