HomeMy WebLinkAbout06 Parker11/4/2019 ZON18-00036 - Planning Commission Desk
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ZON18-00036
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Planning Commissioners,
Attached is a letter expressing my concerns about the Title 8 and Title 18 ordinances which failed to meet the minimum
requirements of the Growth Management Act.I am proposing that they include protections for the Citizens of Jefferson
County and not just at Commercial Shooting Facilities.
Thank You for the work you do for us all.
Riley M. Parker
Riley Parker <riley@happytailsranchnw.com>
Mon 11/4/2019 2:26 PM
To:Planning Commission Desk <PCommissionDesk@co.jefferson.wa.us>;
2 attachments
Plan Comm. 11042019.docx; ATT00001.txt;
Date: November 4th, 2019 To: Jefferson County Planning Commission Members From: Riley M. Parker, Jefferson County Citizen, Quilcene, Washington Subject: Recommendations for revising Title 8 and Title 18 of the Jefferson County Unified Development Code. (UDC) Dear Planning Commission Members, First of all I want to thank you for your service to the Citizens of Jefferson County. I would like to provide you with some of my own commitment to Jefferson County. In the spring of 2018 I applied for and was selected to the Citizen Review Committee, by District 3 County Commissioner Kathleen Kler, to provide my input on a new Commercial Shooting Facilities Ordinance. At the first meeting, on May 9th, our County Administrator, Phillip Morley, greeted the Committee Members and said that we would be using the Kitsap Ordinance as a model as we move forward with our ordinance development work. I was inspired by this as the Kitsap Ordinance, Chapter 10.25, Firearms Discharge, as the Kitsap Ordinance includes “all shooting facilities in the county” and does not differentiate between commercial or private facilities, or shooting on State DNR lands. But unfortunately this was not to be for Jefferson County. We are now left with no protection from private shooting facilities where Para Military, Neo Nationalists, White Supremacists, Preppers, Fascists, Hate Groups or those who profess the overthrowing of our Democracy, to build and use an armed encampment here in Jefferson County. Is this what the Citizens of Jefferson County want? I for one do not believe so. As with the aforementioned omission of protection within Jefferson County, on private lands, we are also facing the destruction of our public, Department of Natural Resources, DNR, lands. Even our County Commissioners have stated in public that people are coming from Kitsap County to shoot on DNR lands within Jefferson County. Shooters are indiscriminately spewing lead and copper contaminants into trees, stumps and the ground, with no regard to the consequences to the environment. There is also no protection for people who wish to use these lands for recreation. There is no backstop, berm, barrier, firing line, safety fan, fencing, signage or any identification of when or where shooting may occur. How can this situation be acceptable when the very lives of our citizens and others who come here to enjoy the recreational opportunities in Jefferson County be in jeopardy? Kitsap County placed a moratorium on shooting, on public lands, until the Department of Natural Resources can identify areas specifically for the practice of safe shooting.
In conclusion I am asking that our Jefferson County Planning Commissioners see the issue of shooting in Jefferson County in a larger context than what County Staff has presented to you. The very word “planning” implies creating a vision of what we want our future to look like and the means and measures to achieve that vision. Let’s all work together. Take the appropriate amount of time to deliver a comprehensive plan for shooting in our County. Thank you again for your service to the citizens of Jefferson County. Sincerely Yours, Riley M. Parker Tarboo Ridge Coalition Board Member