WEST PAWLET — Pawlet’s Development Review Board won’t grant Slate Ridge, a paramilitary training center that was recently ordered to shut down, a zoning permit unless a surveyor can visit the site to obtain more information.
The decision, issued Wednesday, came after neighbors appealed the permit, which was granted by the town zoning administrator in April.
Daniel Banyai, the owner of Slate Ridge, alleges that he’s seeking a permit for a new storage building, which would be an accessory structure to a garage and apartment — the only building on his property that has a valid permit.
At a Development Review Board hearing on June 10, the Hulett family, who own neighboring land, argued that Banyai is actually trying to gain a permit for an existing structure, a schoolhouse where he hosts tactical training. An environmental court judge recently ordered him to demolish that building and other unpermitted structures on the property. Banyai is currently appealing that decision.
Banyai maintained at the hearing that he’s building a new structure, while Rich Hulett presented video and photographic evidence showing similarities between Banyai’s description in the permit and the existing structure. The evidence included a video tour of the property, which Banyai gave to a Youtube commentator.
The dimensions of the new building appear to be nearly identical to the schoolhouse, which is 20 feet by 30 feet by 9.5 feet, according to Banyai’s 2018 permit application, obtained by VTDigger. The dimensions of the proposed new building are 20 feet by 30 feet by 10 feet.
“I feel that we need to get up there and see what he’s got before we start issuing permits for a building that’s already there, and has been ordered by the court to be taken down,” Hulett said.
In his rebuttal, Banyai asked board members to “follow the law,” implying he has the right to build a new storage structure on his land.
“I’d like to state that it’s my goal and intention to do everything within my power to come into legal compliance with all the requirements,” Banyai told the board. “I want to make it clear that I’ll take any legal procedures that I can use to pursue my lifelong dream of owning my own home slash land, and safely operate my own personal shooting range.”
Banyai also said no officials have ever been on his land, and therefore cannot determine that the building he’s proposing is an existing structure. To that end, Keith Mason, chair of the Development Review Board, asked whether Banyai would allow the board to conduct a site visit.
“Select individuals that have not already, corruptly violated my constitutional rights or civil liberties? Absolutely,” Banyai said. “You will need to add me as additionally insured on your insurance policy and pay for private security to protect me.”
The decision issued Wednesday says those conditions are “unreasonable and are effectively a denial of a site visit.”
It also says that, if the building is, in fact, new, Banyai could obtain a legal permit. He could not obtain a permit for the existing building.
“The DRB does not have sufficient information to conclude that the permit application is for a new structure as opposed to an existing, unpermitted structure,” the decision says.
Banyai must submit, within 30 days, a site plan prepared by a Vermont-licensed surveyor or engineer that shows all existing improvements, “including dimensions and setbacks from boundary lines, and including a depiction of the location of the proposed structure.”
He must also identify the “type of storage structure” he’s proposing to build.
“If the landowner fails to supplement the application with the required information within the time permitted herein, then the approval of the permit shall be deemed reversed,” the decision says, “and the permit denied.”
