BZA tables shooting-range request at former Fetla’s

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Updated: February 21, 2012 8:25AM

VALPARAISO — More than 60 people crowded into the meeting room of the Porter County Administrative Center on Wednesday night for a Porter County Board of Zoning Appeals hearing on turning the old Fetla’s Trading Post into a shooting range.

As the meeting began, county planner and zoning administrator Raymond Joseph announced the matter has been tabled indefinitely.

Many of those at the meeting, who live in the University Heights subdivision near Fetla’s, 1457 S. Indiana 2, streamed into the lobby, where they shared their concerns, including noise from the proposed gun range, and plans for an outdoor BB gun range for area Boy Scouts. Safety also came up as an issue with both the indoor and outdoor ranges.

“The vast majority of us are not anti-gun or anti-gun range,” said Simone Byvoets, a University Heights resident for 20 years who filed a formal complaint last week with the planning commission.

The plans, submitted by The Harvey Group L.L.C., call for an indoor shooting range, an outdoor area for BB gun practice and classrooms for training. The facility would be for law enforcement, the military and National Rifle Association functions, as well as public use.

The Harvey Group is asking for a use variance because the proposed use of the property is not listed as a permitted use in any zoning district in the county.

Opportunity Enterprises bought the structure after Fetla’s closed three years ago. Bill Trowbridge, president and chief executive officer of OE, said the not-for-profit agency, which provides services to people with disabilities, considered using the facility for some of its operations but those plans never materialized.

The structure has been on the market, he said, and sale of it to The Harvey Group is contingent on several issues, including BZA approval of the proposed plans. He declined to disclose the sale price.