On Friday — the morning after the Town of Pawlet filed a request with the Environmental Division of Vermont’s Superior Court to hold Daniel Banyai, the owner of Slate Ridge, in contempt of court — Banyai submitted a site plan to the town, fulfilling one of the court’s demands.
The plan, completed by engineering and surveying consultants Spencer and Lapre LLP this month, shows two completed gun ranges and a number of structures on Banyai’s 31-acre property.
However, Banyai is still in violation of court orders, according to Merrill Bent, attorney for the Town of Pawlet. In March 2021, Environmental Court Judge Thomas Durkin ordered Banyai to close Slate Ridge and destroy the unpermitted structures on his property. Banyai appealed the case to the Vermont Supreme Court, and lost in January.
The town’s request, filed Thursday, asks the court to heavily fine and jail Banyai until he complies, which would require removing the unpermitted structures.
Bent, who recently participated in town officials’ first site visit of the property, said the site plan Banyai submitted matches what she saw on the ground.
Slate Ridge, a controversial and unpermitted “gunfighting” training facility, has created high tension in West Pawlet, located in Rutland County near the New York border. Banyai has threatened neighbors and doxxed community members who spoke out against the facility. He has also invited members of local militia groups to train on his property.
— Emma Cotton
