County zoners schedule hearing on Pattersonville gun range
POTTSVILLE – Schuylkill County zoners have set the date they will consider an application to allow a shooting range in Pattersonville.
The Schuylkill County Zoning Hearing Board has scheduled a hearing for August 5 at 6pm at the courthouse in Pottsville.
Daniel Wowak is seeking a special exception to allow the gun range at his property at 16 Shenandoah Road.
Wowak operates an outdoor survival school there already. The property is zoned agricultural.
In a social media post in June, Brooke Wowak, Dan’s wife, explained that the range “would be placed in an area that is far enough from homes with enough wooded area behind the range (as stated in the law). We would also be sure to build the range to NRA specifications (as stated in the law). Also, one of our instructors at the school has received his NRA Range Officer Certification.”
“There will not be constant gunfire, nor will the range be open to the public,” Brooke Wowak wrote. “We also do not have any plans to have shooting training courses.”
Zoners were originally set to hear the application on July 1. A Sentinel reporter arrived at the courthouse at the scheduled time to find a sign on the door noting that the hearing had been continued at the request of the applicant and that a new public notice would be issued with the new date.
Union Township supervisors voted earlier this month to formalize their opposition to the range, following several residents’ protests.
In the resolution, read aloud by Bob Matta, solicitor, the township cited noise and safety concerns regarding the potential addition.
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