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Home My WebLink About076 BallZON18-00036 Thank you for your consideration of my comments Jean Ball Jean Ball <gnarleydogfarm@gmail.com> Fri 11/16/2018 4:25 PM To:Planning Commission Desk <PCommissionDesk@co.jefferson.wa.us>; 1 attachment Commercial shooting facilities 11.16.2018.docx; Page 1 of 1ZON18-00036 -Planning Commission Desk 11/16/2018https://owa.co.jefferson.wa.us/owa/ ZON18-00036 November 16, 2018 Jean Ball, Quilcene Resident at Tarboo Ridge Commercial Shooting Facility Title 18 Proposed Draft Amendments I appreciate and value the proposed amendments to title 18 supplied by staff for consideration by the BoCC and Planning Commission. I would like a few other issues considered. 18.20.030 (8)(d) Says shooting areas should be surrounded by 8’high earthen berm, wall or depression. While that may be sufficient for a non-commercial shooting facility in someone’s back yard, it is not sufficient for a commercial shooting facility with higher volumes of paid guests who are firing from multiple points over the course of unspecified hours of the day. I propose that all commercial shooting facilities be required to have no less than 8’ high solid fences which are sight obscure and which surround the perimeter of the property boundary, fully enclosing the facility and set back 25’ from the property boundary (just as is required by marijuana producers in Jefferson County). Such a fencing requirement would help prevent unauthorized access by humans and wildlife and it would also prevent stray projectiles from leaving the subject property. This fencing should be accompanied by a “Screen-A” style landscaping plan as mentioned in the next paragraph. 18.30.130 Talks about landscape screening for business land uses in Jefferson County. I propose that all commercial shooting facilities be required to plant and maintain a “Screen-A” landscape plan which shall be located around the property boundary. This “Screen-A” landscape plan should be no less than 10’ in width and be accompanied by an 8’ high sight obscure solid fence which shall be set back no less than 25’ from the property boundary as mentioned in the previous paragraph. 18.40.530 Speaks about approval criteria of business land use. Hours of operation for commercial shooting facilities should be carefully curtailed so as to protect the neighboring properties useful enjoyment of their land, the harmonious and appropriate design of the rural character, and to avoid detrimental use of properties in the vicinity. Failure to specify hours of operation will result in significant adverse impacts to the human and natural environment in the vicinity. The term “vicinity” should be defined to mean any location which is impacted in any manner as detected by any of the 5 senses (sight, sound, smell, touch, taste). Hours of business operation which impact the environment or humans in the vicinity should be severely limited to standard bankers’ hours. Staff proposal to allow indoor commercial shooting facilities on any R/R parcel is a terrible idea and will likely be met with an overwhelming outpouring of opposition from the community. 18.20.350 (1)(a) Small Scale Recreational and Tourist Uses says that aerial recreational activities such as balloon rides, glider and parachute events shall be allowed land uses. It does not say that motorized aircraft shall be allowed. Yes, I realize that glider and parachute events require the use of a motorized aircraft, but the term “events” precludes these motorized aircraft from being an allowed use on a regular basis. The spirit of the JCC is clear to me, regular use of motorized aircraft is an unwelcome land use in this neck of the woods. Given the potentially significant impacts to the useful enjoyment of property owners’ land, helicopters should be prohibited outright, with the exception of emergency evacuation. Further, 18.70.060 (5) specifies that one of the exempt noises are “aircraft in flight or flight operations at airports and airfields”. I do not believe any designated forest land in Jefferson County should be used as an airfield or airport. Therefore, aircraft’s rightful place is at the airport, not at a commercial shooting facility, and not in conjunction with a cottage industry permit on an undesignated business location. 18.20.350 (8)(e) Specifies that the minimum lot size for a rifle range shall be 10 acres. That strikes me as woefully inadequate. If we consider the fact that projectiles may travel several miles, the fact that sound travels several miles, that lead contamination travels in the ground and surface water and that 10 acres is just a tiny piece of land for such activities, I am not at all satisfied with that particular portion of JCC. Please add a zero and make the minimum lot size 100 acres for rifle ranges. 18.20.350 Small Scale recreation and Tourist Uses is clearly not the right place to put a commercial shooting facility. Multiple firing points at commercial shooting facilities should be limited to no more than 20, with a maximum of 8 persons firing at any given time. Destructive devices as defined in 18US 921 should not be permitted at any time in Jefferson County. “Minimal impacts” are not those which degrade the environment, create sound pollution, destroy residents’ peaceful enjoyment of the lakes, or create hostility in the community. “Leisure or recreational in nature” is not commercial or military. The watershed aquifer capacity allowance and allowable water rights should be considered when determining the allowable locations for commercial shooting facilities. Sub-basins with extremely limited reserves and potential for future water rights to be granted should be grounds for denial of permit applications for commercial shooting facilities. For example, my home is above the Tarboo sub- basin. The Department of Ecology only has about half a dozen more water rights to grant in my region, and there is a maximum allowable volume measured in gallons. If Jefferson County permits a business to use all the remaining water volume rights, no more homes will be allowed in my region. We need homes desperately in this area. We do not need more commercial shooting facilities. Allowing a private enterprise to snuff out the ability for landowners to build homes and gain water rights to supply their homes is unacceptable land use. Jefferson County’s crown jewel is our natural environment. We live here to immerse ourselves in the natural wonders that exist in this region. We cherish our shorelines, our waterways, our mountains, our lakes, our streams, our wildlife and our peaceful enjoyment of those things. We only have 10 small public lakes in Jefferson County. Those lakes are a source of calm. We swim, fish, and boat in those pristine lakes. Many of those lakes don’t allow motorized boats so why would we allow the unrelenting disturbances of commercial shooting facilities (I’m not talking about hunters) to permanently destroy our peaceful enjoyment of these natural treasures with unrelenting gunfire? NO! This is not acceptable. This is not reasonable use of land and should not be allowed to exist within several miles of any of our lakes. 500 yards is nowhere near sufficient and that is not even being proposed by staff. I hope our Commissioners come to their senses on this issue and protect our lakes more thoroughly than the Critical Areas Ordinance does because 150’ setback is a joke. Respectfully submitted this 16th day of November, 2018 Jean Ball