Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout55 Waldron11/13/2019 “Second Hand Noise” - Planning Commission Desk https://owa.co.jefferson.wa.us/owa/#viewmodel=ReadMessageItem&ItemID=AAMkAGM0ZTI0NjQ3LTE2OGItNGQzZi05MWNjLWE2NTE2NGZjMzFhN…1/2 “Second Hand Noise” CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution when opening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders. Please forward this email to each planning commissioner today, November 8, 2019. Thank you!  Kathleen Subject: ”Second Hand Noise” Dear Planning Commissioners - While listening to the many people at the Commercial Shooting Facilities Public Hearing Tuesday night who want a place to shoot guns, I realized that there are a LOT of people that really want this option available and that people in Kitsap county are also now coming to Jefferson County! When attending the Board of County Commissioners meetings, there is a gentleman who lives near the Sportsman’s Club that complains weekly about the sound of gunshots. So I have been mostly aware of the gun noise consequences to the neighbors. We need to find a solution that works for all! People need a safe place to practice shooting guns and people need to enjoy quiet where they live. What I am talking about is “second hand noise”. This is like “second hand smoke”.  People may enjoy breathing in smoke,  but we should not have to smell what they breathe out. And the laws have changed to protect the non-smokers. Just like gunshot noise , those who shoot guns wear hearing protection and yet those who live around them should not have to do so. This includes wildlife and domestic animals that live in the area as well. Listening to gun shots is like Chinese torture!! And gun shot sounds do not follow 500 feet boundaries, especially over water !! So noise abatement & protection from “second hand noise” is required!   As folks who live by airports know, the sound & number of planes continually increase! Just ask the folks that live by the Coupeville air strip where Growlers practice touch & goes”. My sister said that waiting for a Coupeville ferry for 2 hours created PTSD for her!  And gun ranges that started for a few rifles & guns, now have day long noise including machine guns! And the duration & intensity will no doubt increase! Folks do not want their gun rights removed, but other citizens do not want to listen to them. Both citizens have rights.  The Sound Suppression Component Appendix A (5) (a-d) only requires a “minimum identification of potential sound issues & sound solutions, with proposed methodologies & technologies to mitigate noise” How vague & unable to require or measure is that?! And sound suppression is consistent with the “NRA Source Book”!! (And continually mentions the latest addition, no matter what might Kathleen Waldron <kathleen.waldron@icloud.com> Fri 11/8/2019 2:11 PM To:Planning Commission Desk <PCommissionDesk@co.jefferson.wa.us>; Cc:Patricia Earnest <earnest.pj@gmail.com>; nancywyatt50@gmail.com <nancywyatt50@gmail.com>; 11/13/2019 “Second Hand Noise” - Planning Commission Desk https://owa.co.jefferson.wa.us/owa/#viewmodel=ReadMessageItem&ItemID=AAMkAGM0ZTI0NjQ3LTE2OGItNGQzZi05MWNjLWE2NTE2NGZjMzFhN…2/2 change!) What about support for non NRA folks! I recommend the use of a paid sound expert to measure necessary noise abatement for all that are impacted !! And what about the “Legal Rights of Nature” that are now being adopted throughout this county & around the world. Could “wildlife” be added wherever “livestock” is mentioned? Also, under (4) Environmental Health Component (c) it requires “Preventing  Exposures to Lead & NOISE on Indoor Firing Ranges”!! So noise for shooters is the only factor considered? What about the non shooters that have to hear them shoot?  What if shooters were not allowed to wear hearing protection? Obviously, that would be dangerous to their health! And constant gun shots can be dangerous to the physical & mental health of those that have to hear it! I realize you have a difficult balancing act here, but the consequence of enjoyable shooting, just like enjoyable inhaling of smoke, is the second hand noise that impacts all life around it. Please find a measurable way to protect us all from “ second hand noise “! Thank you - Kathleen Waldron Counselor & Zoologist 50 Beach Drive Nordland WA 98358 kathleen.waldron@icloud.com PS And thank you for prohibiting shooting facilities in all Rural Residential Zones! Can you provide sound buffer spaces as well?