Residents Call for Shooting Range on Ardsley Road to be Moved

After a woman on Birch Hill Road in Greenburgh was hit with a bullet fragment from a shooting range on Ardsley Road, residents are calling for the range to be closed and for the regulation of shooting ranges in Greenburgh. The victim was in a backyard of a home on Birch Hill Road off Ardsley Road on June 12th when a flat circular object hit her leg and scratched it. The fragment was later determined to be from a bullet that was shot at the Westchester County Police Revolver and Rifle League located at 693 Ardsley Road. Birch Hill Road is part of a new development of luxurious homes built by Toll Brothers that is adjacent to the range. Following the incident the range was temporarily closed.

Edgemont residents are now asking for the shooting range to be moved – as it is within a mile of the Greenville Elementary School. In addition to the danger of the bullets, they say it is noisy and poses the risk of lead contamination from the ammunition. An email from Jennifer Holmes of Residents for a Safer Greenburgh says, "This range is under investigation with the EPA and the DEP and has been temporarily closed due to a bullet fragment hitting a pedestrian. With the increasing number of school shootings, necessitating budget increases and bonds for safety enhancements to our schools, we cannot afford to allow people to bring guns into our neighborhoods. The consumption of alcohol is also being looked into at this range."

Despite its name, the Westchester County Police Revolver and Rifle League is not associated with law enforcement and it is open to the public. The range is located on property owned by Con Edison who leases it to the range operators.

Bob Bernstein, President of the Edgemont Community Council prepared a draft of an ordinance regulating shooting ranges that Greenburgh Town Supervisor will propose at a meeting f the Greenburgh Town Board on Tuesday night July 8th. The proposed ordinance would require among other provisions that:

-Shooting ranges receive a permit from the Town of Greenburgh,
-No shooting range can be sited within ¼ of a mile of any residence, school, place of worship, playground, child daycare center or public park
-Each shooting range facility shall be designed to contain the bullets and/or shot on the range facility
-Each shooting range facility shall be designed to minimize off-site noise impacts generated by the activities conducted on the range facility.

Read the entire text of the proposed ordinance here:

Residents are asking their neighbors to attend the meeting on Tuesday night to voice their concerns and support the ordinance. See coverage of the issue here: