Newton Gun Store Regulation Proposal At Standstill

NEWTON, MA — The proposal to amend Newton zoning to make it difficult for firearm shops in town to open was tabled Monday night after city councilors spent a little more than two hours discussing it, at times getting heated.

The zoning proposal is one of three efforts that city council members put forward in response to resident pushback from a gun shop poised to open in the city.

Now, City Council President Susan Albright said she's working to figure out whether to call a special meeting or bring it back before the city council on June 7.

"I'm in thinking mode," she said in a phone interview.

The city council took up the zoning ordinance proposal, after the Zoning and Planning Committee spent hours going over the plan and recommended voting in favor of it.

But councilors were split on it, some urging haste to get a zoning ordinance passed and on the books before a proposed gun shop opened in the city, and others saying it needed more work.

Councilors agreed they wanted to find an ordinance that would be strict enough to meet the city's needs but not so strict it would result in a legal challenge.

"This feels rushed," said Councilor Tarik Lucas. "We should take our time, we have 90 days."

He and others argued that because the city council has 90 days from the day it first announced a public hearing on zoning amendments, they can still retroactively enforce a relocation on any firearm dealer that opens until Aug. 9.

But others argued it's a lot more difficult to order a business to close once it's already opened.

The topic of how stringent zoning for firearms businesses should be is already a tricky one, said Albright. It's made more complicated by the timing and that last week the city entered budget season. That means every city council committee meeting —and there are such meetings every night of the week right now— has been busy focusing on working through the mayor's proposed budget, which has not yet been approved.

But, the council president said she is keenly aware of the need to schedule next steps for the zoning ordinance.

"You don't want this thing to fester much longer than the next meeting," Albright said. "We need to move expeditiously on this, I’m just trying to figure out how."

The other two proposals, including an outright ban on firearm sales in the city, have been referred to the zoning and planning committee.

When did this start?

Although the mayor was alerted that the licensing process in late March, residents learned of the proposed shop around April 15. They set to work and petitioned the city to do something to regulate their location, if not ban them. Within 12 hours, hundreds had signed the petition.

On April 16, the day after the petition launched, the mayor and City Council docketed proposed amendments to limit the dealers to certain zoning districts, require special permit approval from the City Council, and buffers between a store and sensitive locations.

Then a week later, the city's Inspectional Services Department issued a stop work order at 709 Washington St., because the store owner did not have a building permit, which is necessary to do the type of renovation work being done, according to the city.

The City Council's Zoning and Planning Committee began deliberations two weeks ago on how to regulate where firearms can be sold in Newton. For two hours, councilors discussed everything from whether the city had the power to ban the sale of guns, to the possibility of creating a specific zoning ordinance specific to gun shops.

They held a four-hour hearing May 10 that drew more than 500 people, dozens of whom gave their opinion on the proposal and having a gun shop in town. Most of the people approved the strict regulation, though several residents asked for a ban. There were others, however that argued against any regulation, calling it unconstitutional.

The committee then held a three-hour zoning board meeting May 13 as a follow-up to discuss. They approved an amended version of the zoning proposal, which would require firearms dealers stick to certain areas of town, and keep a distance from schools and houses of worship.

"The planning department was very thoughtful in the way it created the zones with the restrictions and the buffers they created," Albright said during that meeting.

They brought that proposal before the city council Monday, and the council voted against bringing it to the Committee of the Whole, before it was "chartered," or tabled.

Related:

• Residents Protest Gun Store Set To Come To Newton
• Newton Issues Stop-Work Order To Planned Gun Store
• Owner Of Proposed Gun Store Applied In January ...

Watch the two-hour discussion May 17(It begins at 2:19: 20):

Watch the May 13 three-hour discussion: