Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout39 FreemanComments to the Planning Commission submitted by: Susan Freeman 2110 East Quilcene Road, Quilcene, WA 98376 November, 5, 2019 :JEFFERSON COUNTY OCD Thank you for allowing us, the public, to have some input into making the new ordinances for a gun range. A year ago we all were here with our statements and the Planning Commission submitted their recommendations to the commissioners. None of them were accepted in the ordinances. The two ordinances that the county spent thousands of dollars and hours and hours of volunteer's time were deemed illegal by the Growth Management Hearing Board. So now we are starting over. This has cost the county a lot of money and it's not over yet. So again, we are back to say what we believe are reasonable guidelines for a gun range. I am joining many others in urging you to adopt the Kitsap guidelines. No military, no night time shooting, no aircraft, 500 yard buffer on public lakes that are 20 acres or larger, 8 foot security fences and a 16 foot berm behind the shooting ranges. These are reasonable and enforceable:'They have held up in court in Kitsap County. These are bright line rules. Our county says with bright line rules "the challenge is that we have to provide rationale so that it is not arbitrary and capricious" Each of these bright line rules seem to have a rationale behind them. In the new ordinances it states that only 150 acres in Jefferson County can be used for commercial gun ranges. That is a "bright line rule". It makes sense to me that the other bright line rules have just as much justification and should be considered. I am not against the Second Amendment, or against guns or the military. Small Scale Tourist and Recreation is what gun ranges fall under in these new ordinances. That makes sense for our county. We need places for hunters and gun users to have good places to train in safety and skill. This is important and good. But it should remain small scale and touris0 Dur coun as one so much to become a revitalized rural county by attracting many younger families and also businesses that support our economy and bring in numerous tourists. We want to protect that. The environmental impact of a gun range on the shores of our local salmon streams and lakes does not make sense. Our County, State and Federal Government have spent millions of dollars to protect our areas shorelines as well as thousands of hours of volunteers time. Our watershed in Jefferson County are some of the most pristine watersheds and I believe it's important to keep them that way. Keeping a 500 yard buffer makes sense to help protect them from lead and copper contamination. But what makes the most sense is to site new gun ranges indoors. That completely changes the whole issue. It takes care of safety, noise, and environmental concerns. Even the gun range consultant, Clark Vargas, that Jefferson County hired during the moratorium said that the future for gun ranges is indoors. Our county is 30,000 people and growing. The places where they will be able to place gun ranges will get harder and harder to site and as the county grows it puts the burden on neighbors. Gun noise can travel miles depending on the wind and topography. Please do what's right for the county as a whole and for what the future will look like in Jefferson County.