miltonct.com

LITCHFIELD-Controversy over the activities of a gun club in the Milton section of town continued this week when more than 200 people showed up for a hearing held by the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) Tuesday at the Litchfield Firehouse.

In the end, the ZBA’s role in any decision on the status of the gun club was stalled. The case is now heading to Litchfield Superior Court-a venue where, some say, it should have been all along.

Tuesday’s hearing, which also drew television news teams from FOX 61 and NBC-30, was the latest development in an ongoing dispute between Milton residents living near property owned by the Cropsey family, which, since 1962, has hosted private shooting activities on its 185 acres.

Residents brought their concerns to the town’s Zoning Enforcement Officer, Matt Speck, and the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) earlier this year, claiming that the casual weekend shooting had increased and become to a bona fide shooting club with paid memberships and instruction by a certified expert.

After obtaining a Report of Investigation from Mr. Speck, the commission determined that the longtime activity was a legal extension of a use that existed before the adoption of zoning. At that point, the group of residents took their case to the ZBA.

The P&Z’s decision to allow the activity on the Cropsey land re-energized disgruntled Milton residents, but it also caused a rift on the land-use panel that resulted in one commissioner, Dr. Susan P. Lowenthal, resigning in protest, and another, chairman Barbara Putnam, writing a memo to the ZBA as a private citizen, detailing why the shooting is inappropriate and how the issue should be addressed.

The adjournment of Tuesday night’s ZBA meeting came after attorney Perley H. Grimes Jr., representing the Cropsey family, the White Oak Gun Club and its instructor, Nicholas Hayley Boyden, would not allow Mr. Boyden to be cross-examined by James Wade, an attorney from Robinson & Cole of Hartford. Mr. Wade represented the residents along with a team of attorneys who turned out in force to represent their clients.

A crowd of people filled the Litchfield Firehouse for the event that some participants dubbed “the super bowl of zoning enforcement.” Among them was Susan Latos, whose family has lived in Litchfield since 1949 and whose late father John Rath used to shoot with Buck Cropsey. She drove two and half hours from New York just to attend the hearing. Ms. Latos doesn’t support the current activity on the Cropsey property but had fond memories of it on behalf of her father.

“My father would wait all day until he got the invitation to shoot. If he didn’t get the call, he went to church,” said Ms. Latos of the once invitation-of-friends-only shooting activity that has since allegedly transpired into a for-profit commercial business.

“In my 30 years of practicing law, I have never had to use the power of subpoena,” said Dwight H. Merriam, another attorney with Robinson & Cole, of the legal requests issued for testimony from Mr. Boyden, Buck Cropsey’s widow, Joyce Cropsey, her son Howard G. Cropsey and others.

“I submitted a list of questions to Mr. Grimes, which were the key elements missing from the zoning enforcement officer’s report (ZEO),” said Mr. Merriam. “Without having those questions answered we can’t build our case and you can’t do your job. The buck stops here. No court will find the facts for you.”

Mr. Grimes was in attendance with Mr. Boyden, but was outnumbered by gun club opponents, who were accompanied by a five-member legal team that included Peter C. Herbst, an attorney with Herbst & Herbst of Torrington, who is representing Rhett Brandon, and other abutting property owners in Milton, as well as Mr. Merriam, Mr. Wade, Jennifer Rossi and Robert Sitkowski, all of Robinson & Cole.

Mr. Wade called on Mr. Boyden, one of only seven subpoenaed witnesses to attend Tuesday night’s hearing, to testify, but Mr. Grimes refused to allow it. Mr. Grimes contended that the lawyers for the neighbors have no authority to issue subpoenas to force witnesses to testify before a land-use commission.

However, Thomas P. Byrne, legal counsel to the ZBA, disagreed with Mr. Grimes and suggested that the neighbors’ lawyers bring the issue before a Superior Court judge. Mr. Byrne said the ZBA will continue the hearing until a judicial ruling is handed down.

Mr. Brandon said this issue is going to court because not only did Mr. Grimes refuse to allow his client to answer questions but his other clients did not comply with the subpoenas issued pursuant to authority under Connecticut statues.

Mr. Merriman said he expects it will take about two weeks for a judge to issue a decision, while the ZBA will likely reschedule the continued hearing for about 10 days afterward.

Attorneys were in Litchfield Superior Court today, where they filed their petition order seeking to force the seven people being subpoenaed to come forth and comply.

Even after Mr. Grimes offered Mr. Wade the opportunity to question Mr. Boyden on “the four corners of his affidavit,” his bargaining chip went unanswered. Now, both parties will have their day in court, which Mr. Grimes has continuously asserted is the proper venue for this matter.

Mr. Brandon and his neighbors continue to be outraged by the purported commercial shooting activity in a residential zone, and most recently filed two separate appeals with the ZBA in their request for a hearing. The first appeal came Aug. 19 in regard to the Report of Investigation made by Mr. Speck. These actions followed their requests for a decision from the Planning and Zoning Commssion determine whether the status of the club had changed and whether zoning regulations were being violated.

The second request came Aug. 26 in reference to the Aug. 4 decision rendered by the land-use panel that the activity falls within the 40-year historic use of the property and the property is a valid non-conforming use.

Mr. Brandon asserted that the decision made is “incorrect and an error,” and that he is asking the ZBA to “right a wrong.”

ZBA chairman Richard M. Ducci outlined the rules for the proceedings. He informed those individuals who wanted to speak either in favor or in opposition to sign their names on a sign in sheet and said they would each be permitted to voice their concerns for three minutes or less.

Lawyers on both sides of the issue received a total time of 15 minutes for their opening remarks and another 15 minutes for their closing remarks. To make sure everyone who wanted to be heard was heard, Mr. Merriam brought in his own sound system.

Many Milton residents say the shooting activity on the Cropsey property has dramatically increased since Buck Cropsey’s passing in 1993 and gunshots can be heard at all hours of the day, any day of the week. Community members addressing the ZBA said their lives have been drastically disrupted, where they have lost contact with their tranquil surroundings and their property values are heading for a downfall.

“All of sudden, it sounded like a war zone in our neighborhood,” said Mike Rubino, a Milton resident of the constant barrage of gunshots he says he hears outside his own home. “That is not why I moved here in 1997. People move here for the peace and quiet.”

Debbie Majeske and her husband, Christopher, and their 7-year-old daughter, Riley, moved to Milton in 2000 and are currently in the process of adopting a baby boy. Their young daughter spoke up about her own issues with the shooting activity.

“When I am playing outside on my trampoline and I hear the gunshots, I get scared and go back inside,” the child said.

“This shooting poses a significant risk to the welfare of a child during this adoption process,” said Mrs. Majeske of her growing concern. “Just before the social worker came to our house on Sunday for a home visit, we heard the gunshots at around 2 p.m.”

According to Mr. Herbst in a telephone interview Wednesday morning, once the Litchfield Superior Court renders a decision on the subpoenas, “the hearing will continue at a special meeting of the ZBA as soon as it’s possible.”