Rodney,
You hit the nail right on the head - these are starting benches !!!
We have 4 at our club. Some people store their starter and ignitor at the bench.
We all allow anyone to use the starter or ignitor if we leave it there.
There is no storing of planes on the starting benches, we have tables for that.
The idea of a club is to share ideas, camaraderieand facilities.
Sounds like it is time for the club to reevaluate their purpose and set the ground rules accordingly.
Good Luck,
KW_Counter