Lower Pottsgrove officials concerned about gun shop in residential area
LOWER POTTSGROVE » A proposal to open a gun repair and dealership in a residential neighborhood on Deer Ridge Drive is raising concerns for the township commissioners.
According to a legal notice published in The Mercury, Jeffrey Labombard has applied to the zoning hearing board to be allowed to operate a gun shop, where he would sell guns, ammunition and accessories, as well as undertake firearms repairs, in his home.
The hearing will be held at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 16, via a Zoom link that will be posted at — https:// www.lowerpottsgrove.org/ — the township web page. It is open to the public and anyone who lives within 500 feet of the site will be notified in writing.
The business is regulated by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which requires that Labombard obtain permission from the township, Township Solicitor Charles D. Garner Jr. told the commissioners at Monday night’s meeting.
Garner said the township’s zoning ordinance classifies this use as a “lowimpact home-based business” and only requires a “special exception” from the zoning hearing board. “It’s not a variance,” he said.
The proposal is “a little bit different than what you might think,” but the gun shop, as proposed, “still qualifies” and the primary role of the zoning hearing board is to ensure the plan complies with the 10 conditions the zoning ordinances lays out for a low-impact home-based business, Garner said.
However, he explained, the commissioners are within their rights to communicate with the zoning hearing board and request additional conditions.
Garner, Township Manager Ed Wagner and Acting Police Chief Will James all met with Labombard, who reassured them the operation would be very professional, Garner said. “He is a very legitimate business operator,” Garner said.
Nevertheless, all five commissioners voted to send Garner, Wagner and James to the zoning hearing to get answers to the concerns they raised Monday night.
“I’m concerned about fire, and ammunition being so close to homes,” said
Commissioners Chairman Bruce Foltz.
Garner said Labombard told him the volume of ammunition stored would be “limited in scope.”
He said while the gunsmith may be thoroughly professional, “what’s to stop a customer from saying he wants to try out his new gun on the front porch or having a loaded gun accidentally go off in a residential neighborhood?”
Commissioner Earll Swavely, a former township police chief, said he shares Foltz’s concerns.
“The applicant lives in my development and I have some of the same concerns as Bruce, the nature of the business being in a residential area,” said Commissioner
Mike McGroarty. “I’d like to know if the police department is comfortable with it. I’m not and I won’t be.”
But Commissioner Robert Mohollen raised an interesting point.
“We know people have guns in their houses and there are a lot we don’t know about,” he said.
“A guy died recently in my neighborhood and we found out he had more than 20 guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition. If that house had caught fire we’d all be in a lot of trouble,” he said.
“At least here, it’s regulated. There are people watching this guy. There are tons of people out there no one is watching who could have guns out the wazoo,” said Mohollen.
Commissioner Ray Lopez said he is concerned about security. “You have gun shops in a commercial area in cement block buildings with iron bars and thieves still get in there and steal guns. I would think a residential property is a lot easier to break into.”
The shop is designed to be mostly mail order and customers make appointments to come and pick up their purchases, according to James. “There are precautions being taken. There will be a limited number of people going to the residence.”
But Lopez said he is worried “around Christmas time when people are coming to pick up their sights, or guns or accessories” that traffic will be greater than the application forecasts.