HomeMy WebLinkAbout23 ParkerDate: November 41h, 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
JEFFERSON COUNTY DCD