The proposal for an indoor gun range was approved four years ago and it was never built.
“They never had any plans,” Earl Anderson, senior planner at York County, said of the proposal. “They just never moved forward with it.”
In 2015, the York County Board of Supervisors approved a special use permit for The Digges Company, one of many companies affiliated with Bush Corporation, to build a 8,100-square-foot indoor firing range at 1558 Penniman Road.
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“We’re still trying to make it happen,” said Mark Rinaldi, vice president of Bush Corporation. “We still think it’s going to be a success.”
Rinaldi noted there have been a number of complications and technical things involved in the process.
“It’s because it’s a very highly specialized line of business,” he said, adding the industry has gone more “high tech” and it’s more complicated than his and the company’s experience.
Rinaldi noted the company is looking for somebody to partner with who has the experience and expertise to design, implement and operate the range. And a good reputation.
“We’re looking for the right people to make this happen,” he said. “We’d rather do it right and that takes time.”
Bush Corporation is a developer in the Mid Atlantic region and has other non-firing range related projects.
“After the 2016 election, a lot of ranges have started to struggle,” Rinaldi said, noting some gun ranges have overbuilt retail facilities, another reason he wants to work with someone who has experience building a gun range.
“If we don’t feel confident we have the right people to operate this safety and securely, we’re not going to build something reckless,” he said, adding he does not want a “half baked” operation.
Rinaldi said the company was able to extend the special use permit, which expires next year in June.
“I’m still hopefully we can make something happen,” he said. “I think it could be very successful in this market.”
