Newcastle residents vote to approve amendments to the core zoning code regarding retail firearm sales at the Lincoln Academy gymnasium in Newcastle on Tuesday, Oct. 15. The amendments were approved with a vote of 43-5. (Nolan Wilkinson photo)
In a special town meeting that lasted roughly 15 minutes, Newcastle residents voted 43-5 in favor of amending the town’s core zoning code to include retail firearm sales facilities.
The meeting at the Lincoln Academy gymnasium on Tuesday, Oct. 15 featured no discussion other than a clarification of the language of the amendments from Newcastle Town Planner Michael Martone.
The amendments define a retail firearms sales facility as “a business that publicly displays or offers firearms … for sale to the public, where such firearms are available for purchase on the premises.” The definition does not include online-only displays or offers.
Additionally, the amendments state a retail firearm sales use shall not be located within 300 feet of a primary or secondary school, or dormitory associated with a school.
Newcastle Planning Board Chair Ben Frey said during a Sept. 19 public hearing that the proposed distance aligns with state law, which prohibits the discharge of a firearm or archery equipment within 100 yards, or 300 feet, of a dwelling or building without the permission of the building owner or resident.
According to the amended zoning code, permitted districts for a retail firearms sales use include the rural, village business, town center, highway commercial, rural highway, and fabrication districts. The town cannot issue new permits in the neighborhood residential, neighborhood business, village residential, historic, conservation, campus, or marine districts.
The planning board spent roughly five months working on the amendments after Newcastle voters approved enacting a moratorium for the review, consideration, or issuance of any permits or approvals for individuals looking to buy, sell, or trade in firearms during a special town meeting on May 13.
An April inquiry to Newcastle town office staff from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives about zoning regulations that prohibit the sale of firearms in close proximity to schools inspired the moratorium.
Following the inquiry from the bureau, Frey said town office staff was surprised to find the town’s zoning code did not address the matter of firearm sales in proximity to schools. Frey went before the Newcastle Select Board on April 22 to request a moratorium regarding the issuance of retail firearm sale permits be put in front of voters.
For more information or to read the amendments, go to newcastlemaine.us.
