An environmental court judge has ordered that, for now, Daniel Banyai must stop paramilitary training activities at Slate Ridge, which has operated without a permit for several years in West Pawlet.
Following court proceedings that have lasted more than a year, the judge on Thursday issued a preliminary injunction, which says “that Defendant shall not conduct or permit to be conducted any school and/or firearms training related activities on the Property situated 541 Briar Hill Road, nor host classes of any type on the property, from the receipt of the order, until further order of this court.”
Merrill Bent, the attorney for the town of Pawlet, filed the motion for emergency injunctive relief after expecting the judge to issue a decision at a hearing in December. Instead, the judge asked for post-trial briefs from both Banyai and Bent, which were due earlier this month.
The preliminary injunction states that the town proved at that hearing that Banyai is operating an “unpermitted firearms training facility” and that the defendant “has refused to cure any of the violations and instead continues to develop infrastructure and expand the facility.”
Judge Tom Durkin has not yet issued a final decision. The town has asked him to make the order permanent, require the removal of unpermitted buildings, impose fines and require Banyai to cover the cost of the town’s legal fees.
“It is difficult for the Court to imagine an alleged zoning violation that could be the source of more significant irreparable harm than an unpermitted shooting range,” the motion, filed by attorney Merrill Bent to the court, said.
