Planning board waives size cap and approves SIG Sauer Academy range covers under expedited review

Brentwood’s Planning Board voted to waive a 1,500-square-foot cap on expedited reviews and approved SIG Sauer Academy’s application to replace aging overhead covers on three outdoor firing ranges.

Colin Murphy, senior operations manager at SIG Sauer Academy, told the board the project is largely a like-for-like replacement: “we are merely replacing something that already exists,” adding that the work includes pouring three concrete pads, modular wood-frame covers with standing-seam metal roofs, polyethylene roll-down sides and new infrared ceiling heaters.

Staff noted the expanded footprint — about 2,100 square feet, roughly 600 square feet beyond the expedited threshold — and recommended the board explicitly record that it was waiving the size limit in the notice of decision. A board member moved to waive the 1,500-square-foot restriction and the board approved the waiver by voice vote. The board then voted to approve the site-plan application under the expedited-review process; no detailed roll-call was read into the record.

Board members asked about safety and inspection steps. Murphy said propane lines will be installed subsurface and that the town’s fire department will be required to inspect the tanks and fuel system as part of the building-permit process. He also described the site’s barriers as Hesco walls — heavy-duty, container-style barriers — already in place around the ranges.

The board recorded no conditions beyond standard building- and fire-permit inspections in the discussion recorded on the meeting minutes. The transcript does not show a roll-call vote breakdown naming individual members.

The approval clears the SIG Sauer project to proceed to the building-permit stage, where the fire-department inspection and any required permit-level conditions will be enforced.