RED HOOK — A town gun club has been temporarily shut down after complaints from neighbors about zoning violations and noise from inappropriately heavy firepower.
Neighbors on Spring Lake Road said the Cokertown Rod & Gun Club has expanded its membership in recent years, and those members are shooting more powerful weapons more frequently, more hours of the day and in the company of more guests.
The neighbors, separated from the gun club by a small wooded area, all live within about a quarter mile of the club and its pistol range.
"I'm a hunter and I have nothing against guns or gun clubs or anything. The activity up there never bothered me and it wasn't hardly noticeable," said Larry Thetford, a neighbor on Spring Lake Road. "But I would say in the last two or three years we have moved from what was typical gun club activity ... to almost constant semi-auto and fully automatic rifle fire."
Officially asked to stop
On April 17, the club was served with a cease-and- desist letter by the town's zoning enforcement officer, Robert D. Fennell.
Members of the club did not return calls for comment.
The club sits on 5.2 acres donated in 1962 by Jean Horkan and the late James J. Horkan, a state trooper and an original member of the gun club. The club — initially comprised of a small group of Red Hook-area hunters and outdoorsmen — used the parcel for gathering and hunting small game.
In recent years, the membership has expanded to include people from across Dutchess, Ulster and Columbia counties, as well as their guests, according to a letter of complaint sent by Jean Horkan's attorney to Red Hook Supervisor Marirose Blum Bump. According to the Horkans and their attorney, Cokertown also has violated local zoning ordinances and is illegally operating an outdoor target range on 5.2 acres when the minimum acreage for such a use is 50.
Fennell's letter said the club "enjoys nonconforming (grandfather) status" because it has been in existence since the Horkans donated the land in 1962, but it must stop activities until it meets all of the town's zoning laws.
Michael Horkan, who also lives on Spring Lake Road, said his mother has had difficulty selling her home because of the near-constant gunfire. He hopes the cease-and-desist letter will solve that problem and will bring a little peace to his neighborhood after the past few years of escalating noise.
Horkan, who is a lieutenant with the City of Poughkeepsie Police Department, said the gun club was a danger because some members were using military-style weapons.
"I've been around the block when it comes to gunfire when it comes to my job, and I can assure you they're shooting some high-powered, dangerous weapons back there that are not meant for hunting," he said.
Nik Bonopartis can be reached at nbonopar@poughkeepsiejournal.com
