The Litchfield Zoning Board of Appeals on next Tuesday, January 6th at 6:30 PM , will continue
its public hearing on whether a commercial gun club will be allowed to operate in a
residential neighborhood in Litchfield.
The hearing will be at the main fire house on Route 202, West Street.
LITCHFIELD – Litchfield Superior Court Judge Vincent Roche has ruled in favor of the neighbors challenging the commercialization of their residential neighborhood by the White Oak Gun Club in the Milton section of Litchfield. He has ordered that the subpoenas issued to the White Oak Gun Club are valid and that those who were subpoenaed must appear before the Litchfield Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) with documents relevant to the proceedings.
Judge Roche’s ruling was the result of legal arguments between lawyers for the neighbors and for the Cropsey family, which owns the White Oak Gun Club, as well as for Nick Boyden, manager of the White Oak Gun Club. Atty. Pearly Grimes, representing the Cropseys, Boyden and the White Oak Gun Club, had refused to allow his clients to testify at an Oct. 7 ZBA public hearing in response to the subpoenas issued by the neighbors’ lawyers. This forced the neighbors to ask a Superior Court judge to settle the issue of the validity of the subpoenas.
In a decision handed down Monday, Nov. 24, Judge Roche ruled that the seven subpoenas the neighbors’ lawyers issued are valid and that the Cropseys and Boyden must appear before the ZBA as long as the questions they are asked and the documents requested are relevant to the claim that the White Oak Gun Club is a commercial organization operating illegally in a residential neighborhood. Likewise, he ruled that the 44 documents about the White Oak Gun Club and the Cropsey property that the neighbors are seeking must be produced to the extent that they are relevant. The judge held that it will be up to the chairman of the ZBA to decide on an item-by-item basis whether the testimony and the 44 documents subpoenaed are relevant to any issue before the ZBA.
“This is good news,” said Earle Taylor, one of the neighbors challenging the White Oak Gun Club. “This means we will finally be able to prove to the ZBA that the White Oak Gun Club is not a continuation of the limited shooting activity that the late Buck Cropsey enjoyed; that it’s a commercial enterprise operating illegally and ruining the tranquility of our otherwise quiet, residential neighborhood here in Milton.”
The ZBA will decide when to schedule the continuation of the Oct. 7 public hearing, but speculation is that it will likely be sometime in mid-December.
The issue stems from the creation of the White Oak Gun Club in 2004. Gunshots can frequently be heard, resulting in many neighbors comparing it to the sounds of a war zone.
Matt Speck, Litchfield’s zoning enforcement officer, wrote a report about the issue earlier this year, claiming that the club was a non-conforming use because the late Buck Cropsey, the original owner of the property at 116 Blue Swamp Road, used to shoot skeet and trap there before the adoption of zoning in 1970. However, the neighbors testified at the Oct. 7 ZBA hearing that the activity at the White Oak Gun Club is not the same as when Buck Cropsey used to shoot skeet. Instead of just a couple of hours on Sunday mornings, the paid membership-driven White Oak Gun Club has significantly intensified the activity with gunshots heard on any day of the week and any time of day.
The Litchfield Planning & Zoning Commission accepted Speck’s report this past summer, essentially allowing the illegal establishment of a commercial operation in a residential zone.
The neighbors subsequently appealed that action to the ZBA, leading to the expected continuation of the ZBA hearing sometime in December
ProtectLitchfield.org consists of a group of neighbors in Litchfield who are concerned that the establishment of a commercial development in a residential neighborhood could set a precedent and open the way for other commercial businesses locating in other residential neighborhoods in town.
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Saturday, November 22nd-5:30pm. Please bring a hors d’oeuvre and a contribution to the food drive. Non alcoholic drinks will be provided. BYOB. We will be collecting donations for our local Food Pantry and the Thanksgiving food drive at the Community Center which benefits 30+families from our community. Non-perishable food and gift cards to Stop and Shop are some suggestions. Questions-call Kristen at 567-3319
The matter of the Cropsey’s refusal to answer questions before the Litchfield Board of Zoning Appeal about the character of their gun club is in the hands of Litchfield Superior Court Judge Vincent Roche. The matter was presented to the judge on October 27, 2008 . The judge is studying the legal papers presented by both sides and is expected to issue a ruling on whether the Cropseys are compelled to answer questions about the business nature of their activities in a residential zone.
Perley Grimes, attorney for the Cropsey’s made a very long argument before the court about why the subpoenas requiring the Cropseys and Nick Boydon to answer questions were not valid.
Nick Boyden of Kent, the manager of the Gun Club were present in court, as was Mr. Howard Cropsey. Howard Cropsey, along with his mother, Joyce, and brother, James of Tilton, New Hampshire, are the proponents of the expanded shooting and dog training activity at their father’s estate on Blue Swamp Road in Milton.
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. Read the rest of this entry
Last night, 7 October 2008, the Litchfield Zoning Board of Appeals voted to continue its Public Hearing on the matter of the appeal of citizens of Mlton to the previous finding by the Litchfield Planning and Zoning Commission. The Hearing was continued because the attorney for the Cropseys and their professional business manager Nicholas Boyden, refused to allow Boyden and the Cropseys to be examined about their plans for the gun club, even though they were asked to do so with a month’s notice and in defiance of subsequent subpoenas.
Please go to: protectlitchfield.org for more information about the Cropsey Gun Club and efforts to stop it.
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I would like to extend the invitation to anyone in Milton OR the surronding area to: kayak OR canoe with me on the Bantam River in the near future! I enjoy this sport all the time and would like to use this wonderful WEB SITE (thanks to our WEB SITE owner) for sharing “FUN” stuff we can do; together, as a group FROM MILTON! Anyone who is interseted contact me Bill Winn 567-0573.
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