MONROE – Two indoor gun ranges are in the process of being built in Monroe Township. One of the new facilities will also sell firearms.
The owners of both facilities — the Union Hill Gun Club and Recoil N.J. — have received the required municipal approvals to proceed with their projects.
The Union Hill Gun Club has been a work in progress since 2013. The club will be built at 8 Union Hill Road on Monroe Township’s border with Manalapan. Beth and Paul Picone own the property.
The Picones are working with Ira Levin of Legend Firearms, Marlboro. Levin has been a consultant for the Picones in regard to the construction of the club and what it will provide. Levin will operate the firearms store in the Union Hill Gun Club.
According to plans for the facility, the gun club will be built on a 9.5-acre site with a 20,400-square-foot commercial building, a 30-lane indoor firing range, a gun store and a training room. The building will have a first floor and a basement, with each floor measuring 10,200 square feet.
The owners said that the Union Hill Gun Club will be the largest indoor private gun range in New Jersey.
The plan received initial approval in November 2013 and final site plan approval in May from the Monroe Township Zoning Board of Adjustment.
According to Levin, the club will have private membership. At certain times, members will be permitted to bring guests to the club.
The owners plan to install biometric fingertip scanners and motion scanners to monitor people entering the building.
Levin said that the Monroe Township and Marlboro police departments will be able to use the facility for training purposes at no cost.
“It is important to us to give back to the community,” he said.
Space in the gun club will permit police to conduct training drills indoors. Programs to be offered will include youth shooting programs through the National Rifle Association (NRA) and self-defense classes for women.
The operators said between 2,500 and 2,800 individuals have expressed interest in pre-construction membership costs.
Picone said representatives of several groups have approached the operators about using the facility; these groups include the Boy Scouts of America, the U.S. Olympic Air Rifle training team and a women’s Bible club. He said the operators have declined any possible NRA-sanctioned events such as shooting parties.
“Our focus is to have a family oriented gun club and gun education for youths,” he said.
The operators are hoping to start construction within a month and to open the Union Hill Gun Club in the first quarter of 2016.
Recoil N.J. owner George Tarantino received approval from Monroe Township in 2012 to construct an indoor gun range on Mott Avenue, just outside Jamesburg.
Municipal officials denied Tarantino permission to sell firearms at the location.
Tarantino’s son, David, said the 15-lane indoor range will be open to the public and offer hourly and yearly memberships. The range will host gun safety classes. The Tarantinos have cleared land at 25 Mott Ave. and hope to start construction in the fall.