Summit Township is suing Sportsman’s Supply for not removing numerous storage containers used to store ammunition in front of the business on Freeport Road.

The suit filed in Butler County Common Pleas Court claims Tyler Kovach, president and CEO of Sportsman’s Supply, sought permission in 2020 to use 12 storage containers measuring 8 feet by 40 feet.

Storage facilities are permitted in the commercial zoning district where the business is located, and the township zoning officer told Kovach that storing the containers is a second use of the property, according to the lawsuit.

The officer told Kovach he had to submit a land-development plan to address lighting, buffers and inspections that are required by the township’s subdivision and land-development ordinance, according to the suit.

In October 2020, township supervisors granted his request to temporarily store the containers on the property and issued him a zoning permit to store the 12 containers for 12 to 18 months.

By the time he signed the permit on Dec. 30, 2021, he already had placed 15 containers on the property, according to the suit.

In March 2022, the township notified Kovach that he had 15 containers on the property and his allotted 18 months would expire April 7, 2022.

He requested a 24-month extension of the permit, but the supervisors granted an extension to Nov. 30, 2022.

After the township sent him a reminder of the extended deadline on Nov. 21, his attorney notified the township that he wouldn’t meet the deadline and asked for an extension.

The township granted him another extension to Jan. 31, 2023, and told him the township would sue if he didn’t remove the containers by then.

The suit argues that the containers are a public nuisance because the stored ammunition creates a “deadly hazard” and they violate the zoning ordinance.

The township is seeking an injunction requiring removal of the containers and a judgment of $500 a day retroactive to Jan. 31.

In preliminary objections file last week, Kovach’s attorney Jason Cervone argued that the township failed to comply with a provision of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Code that requires municipalities to file complaints seeking enforcement remedies in district court, and that fines must be ordered by district judges.

The complaint lacks evidence that storing the containers requires a land-development plan, and is a second use of the property instead of an accessory use, according to the objections.

Cervone also filed a motion asking the court to order the township to file an amended complaint with more specific allegations and dismiss the suit. Kovach declined to comment on the suit.

President Judge S. Michael Yeager has been assigned the case.