The man seeking an Adirondack Park Agency permit to test heavy artillery on private land in Lewis claims he doesn’t need an APA permit if the testing is conducted under a federal contract, according to his attorney’s most recent filing with APA.
Michael Hopmeier, who operates his business Unconventional Concepts, Inc. at the site of an abandoned missile silo in Lewis, drew the first APA administrative hearing in over a decade with his weapons testing proposal. The agency board can only deny a permit after first holding such a hearing.
After years of back-and-forth with APA staff, and resistance to the proposal from environmental advocacy groups and local residents, Hopmeier now claims he only sought the permit as a courtesy…