In a Wednesday morning workshop session, Eldred Township supervisors listened to proponents of an outdoor shooting range. The room was crowded with residents both for and against the range, which would be located 3,200 feet behind Mrs. Bush's Personal Care Home and Eldred Township Elementary School.

RTSP LLC, a New Jersey company, and its legal representation from MHK Attorneys in Brodheadsville approached the supervisors with an amended ordinance for private outdoor ranges within a rural resource zoning district. In January, the supervisors had denied their request for a hearing to change the zoning.The property in question is owned by David J. Tanzosh and Timothy J. Tanzosh of Kunkletown and was used as a farm. The Tanzoshes have a contract to sell the property to RTSP LLC, but it is contingent upon the zoning amendment approval, said Joseph Hanyon, the attorney for RTSP. The shooting range would be pointed in a direction away from the personal care home and into a mountainside.RTSP owns an indoor shooting range in East Randolph, New Jersey, ranked as a five-star range by the National Shooting Sports Foundation. The New Jersey range offers three membership levels: full membership at $350 a year, LEO membership for active duty and retired law enforcement and military personnel at $175 a year, and VIP club membership for $2,000 the first year, according to the company's website. There is additional pricing for public use.Hanlon and Peter Miscia, president of RTSP, did not have specific membership information in regards to the proposed outdoor range in Kunkletown. Hanlon argued that because the range is membership only, this makes it a private outdoor range and not a commercial property.Private property and commercial property have different laws concerning issues, such as stormwater maintenance and roadway width. The roadway leading to this property is a 25-foot-long, 15-foot-wide easement through another resident's property.Eldred Township supervisor Vice Chairman Mary Anne Clausen said, "I haven't seen anything that makes me think this is a good idea."Supervisor Gretchen Gannon Petit said that the Tanzoshes have had a shooting range on the property for many years. For this reason, she thinks the land use is grandfathered in."I think if we can allow them to have a shooting range with the abatements they can provide, then I think it is quieter and cleaner than a racetrack," Petit said."I don't think this qualifies for what most people would qualify as a private range," Clausen said.The next scheduled supervisors meeting is March 4.