Lawmakers nix gun club

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

GREENCASTLE -- The final authority on rezoning for a proposed gun club in western Putnam County officially denied the motion Monday morning.

After a negative recommendation from the Putnam County Plan Commission in November, the action came before the Putnam County Commissioners at Monday's regular meeting.

The plan commission's recommendation was based on the fact that the gun club, proposed for a site on West Walnut in Madison Township, conflicted with the comprehensive plan, did not fulfill a public need, would create a traffic flow problem and would create a potential nuisance to neighboring landowners.

Ultimately, the commissioners -- one of whom, Gene Beck, also serves on the plan commission -- agreed with the original findings and did not rezone from Agriculture 1 to Agriculture 2.

Beck said he got a number of letters in support of the club, but not one of them came from Putnam County.

"I represent the people of Putnam County, not everywhere else in the state of Indiana," he said.

Andrew Price, attorney for petitioner Deb Cheek, argued that the remonstrators had not presented evidence to the plan commission, but merely "speculation." He cited a number of ways Cheek planned to address safety, noise and land contamination.

However, approval ultimately hinged purely on questions of zoning. Del Brewer, attorney for the remonstrators, said there was no reason to rezone the area. Agriculture 2 is described as being for buffer areas between city and country or along highways.

The site does not fit the criteria.

The commissioners unanimously denied the request.

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  • I agree with Jordan23. Putnam County was the only countyin the area that did not have school monday because of bad roads. An Indianapolis TV station was in the county to find out what was wrong. The roads are still not clear. The county highway superintendants should be held responsible as well as our county commissioners. Did anyone see that one commissioner makes a salary of $56,000?

    -- Posted by albert on Wed, Feb 9, 2011, at 6:05 AM
  • Love to read comments from people who think they just know everything....learn to spell ,correct you fiction stories and get a job,please.....

    -- Posted by kubotafan on Wed, Feb 9, 2011, at 7:48 AM
  • If the people were honest in their complaints, the issue boiled down to pro-gun versus anti-gun plain and simple. Liberalism is on the march in Putnam county.

    -- Posted by exhoosier2 on Wed, Feb 9, 2011, at 7:53 AM
  • I agree with bomtrax5! everyone needs to just figure out what they are talking about!!

    and this has nothing to do with anti/pro gun laws... it has to do with the citizens in the area that are affected by this! I am glad that they have denied it. although I am Pro guns, there just wasn't a good place for the range.

    -- Posted by kmgoodpaster on Wed, Feb 9, 2011, at 9:00 AM
  • bomtrax5 before you throw stones, check your grammer. "correct you fiction" is not correct.

    Don't worry about the gun club and traffic problems. We can't get around now the way the roads are. There have been 4 wrecks on the 5 mile stretch on New Providence Road before the daycare. All of them have been since Friday, days after the storm. The worst was last night, an entire week after the ice storm.

    -- Posted by purduegrad on Wed, Feb 9, 2011, at 9:37 AM
  • ........shooting ranges are actually listed in the approved uses in A2 zones. Hopefully you can relocate!

    -- Posted by coldmoosehead on Wed, Feb 9, 2011, at 9:44 AM
  • This article is about the shooting club, not snow & ice removal on our roads. Keep on track, people.

    This rezoning meeting was NOT about anti versus pro guns. Everyone in this neighborhood has guns &/or hunts. We are not opposed to guns. We just don't want constant gunfire this close to our homes or contamination of our water table from lead in the ammo. This can seriously affect our quality of life and safety for our families & livestock.

    We greatly appreciate all the time & effort of our neighbors for researching all aspects of our rezoning issue. And thanks to our commisioners for listening to our appeals. This is a great country that we live in where we can debate issues freely.

    -- Posted by kitmandu on Wed, Feb 9, 2011, at 12:46 PM
  • I believe Mr. Beck, (who I disagree with 99% of the time), is appropriate in denying the request if letters of support are from non-County residents. What more is there to say other than there appears no value or interest by our residents.

    -- Posted by Seagullslim on Wed, Feb 9, 2011, at 4:39 PM
  • Anyone else hear about a schoolbus nearly slipping into a lake this afternoon?

    I'm assuming the county roads are still a little icy.

    -- Posted by ProblemTransmission on Wed, Feb 9, 2011, at 4:54 PM
  • Will creat a potential nuisance to neighboring land owners???????? Why was that not considered before they let the ungodly noisy 4 wheeler races just north of the city limits? I was never asked and I would have said no to that racket!

    -- Posted by Trying hard on Thu, Feb 10, 2011, at 11:46 AM
  • I'm a putnam co resident that lives only a few miles from Mr. Beck. I support Cheek's and their proposed club.

    That it doesn't serve a public need is ludicrous have you seen the road signs around this county all full of bullet holes?? Obviously there are people who need a proper shooting range!

    I'm also glad they finally put sand down - a week after the ice storm... But otherwise have had good results communicating with the highway department over the years.

    -- Posted by Pointman on Thu, Feb 10, 2011, at 2:36 PM
  • my mistake,purduegrad,sorry about the letter being left off,must have slipped on the ice....To jordan23,hope your "inside source"keeps filling your head full of juicy gossip!!!

    -- Posted by kubotafan on Thu, Feb 10, 2011, at 3:28 PM
  • lol bomtrax5

    -- Posted by purduegrad on Fri, Feb 11, 2011, at 10:38 AM
  • anything that brings money to the county they wont allow . just like when eli lillys wanted to come in and they wouldnt allow it . or the stainless steel plant that went to carrolton ky instead of landing in putman county. we sure have enough buildings sitting empty to use but no one wants to drum up the business,s to fill them. if we didnt have life long poloticians maybe we could grow ?? lets try getting some younger blood in the offices and someone who,ll work for their money.

    -- Posted by mrcatfish43 on Sat, Feb 12, 2011, at 7:42 PM
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