Huger St. warehouse, proposed site for indoor shooting range

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) -- The city of Charleston is up in arms over a proposed shooting range on the peninsula. A local businessman wants to open an indoor gallery there, but the city says it's against the law.

The proposal has not been shot down yet, but there are some significant differences on each side. And both parties are standing their ground.

Ben Chase owns an empty warehouse on Huger Street. It's not far from Meeting Street and the Ravenel Bridge. His idea is to turn his property into a shooting range. He says he has every right to do it.

"We proceeded forward with the project because we read the rules and felt like we wouldn't have any resistance because it met code," says Chase.

But Chase soon learned the city read the law very differently.

"We feel as though the zoning ordinance currently prohibits an indoor shooting range in the city of Charleston," Charleston Director of Planning, Preservation and Sustainability" Tim Keane says.

Soon after, Chase met with leaders, like Police Chief Greg Mullen, to discuss the plans. He's never waivered on them.

"The code as it exists today, specifically in section 10, provides for discharging of firearms in a shooting gallery," Chase argues.

Chase went ahead and applied for a business permit. He then says after he did, the city council moved forward with a new ordinance that restricts shooting ranges to industrial areas, at least 1,000 feet from the nearest church, park or home.

"Now they've enacted a new ordinance since I've submitted my permit that would disallow the shooting gallery at my warehouse."

Again, Charleston leaders disagree. They tell ABC News 4, Chase filed an unofficial application.

"We had gotten a fax application or a copy of a fax application which we don't accept, we don't accept fax applications," says Keane. "And then we had contacted the owner about the fax application looking for a legal application and they said they weren't ready to submit an application yet."

Keane says the ordinance was brought up to clarify and not rewrite any existing laws.

Chase says he's going ahead with plans and believes he's on firm legal ground.

The city planning commission will hold a public hearing on the shooting range ordinance, October 19.