Drizzt
Member
Copyright 2003 McClatchy Newspapers, Inc.
The Fresno Bee
January 15, 2003, Wednesday SOUTH VALLEY EDITION
SECTION: MAIN NEWS; Pg. A1
LENGTH: 849 words
HEADLINE: Shooting range may stay open Tulare County board OKs operation with changes; neighbors worry about safety.
BYLINE: Javier Erik Olvera THE FRESNO BEE
DATELINE: VISALIA
BODY:
The Tulare County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday decided to allow Rankin Field Weapons Range to remain open despite pleas from nearby residents that it be shut down for their safety.
The supervisors' unanimous decision angered residents near the southeast Tulare shooting range, who claim they've heard ricochets and found bullets on their land.
The 4-0 vote will require Rankin Field officials to close one shooting area for .22-caliber rifles and shotguns until it's reconfigured so it points away from residents' property.
Four other shooting areas over the last six months have been altered to point away from residents' property to head off complaints of bullets found outside the range. But residents along rural Road 140 don't believe the planned change is good enough and that only a roof could stop bullets from potentially flying onto their land, possibly hurting somebody.
"It floors me," said neighbor Steve Canby, who presented supervisors with several Ziploc freezer bags that contained bullets he found on one edge of his 3.8 acres. "I guess it's going to take someone dying."
The decision ends nearly a year of dispute that catapulted into the spotlight Dec. 4 when the Tulare County Planning Commission voted to close the range until a civil engineer studied the problems.
Rankin Field officials immediately appealed the Planning Commission decision to the Board of Supervisors -- a move that
allowed the range to operate normally until the decision Tuesday.
Range office manager Vicki Lyftogt on Tuesday said range leaders are pleased with the outcome and will continue to offer services to members.
"We feel the range is safe," said Lyftogt. "We are not oblivious to the feeling of our neighbors. We've answered their concerns as they've been brought up and we feel they have nothing to fear."
The Board of Supervisors specifically wants the rifle and shotgun shooting area reconfigured so it no longer points south toward private property, but points east toward land where there are no homes. Other shooting areas already point toward the east.
Supervisors are also mandating that a trained range safety officer be on the grounds when the range is open to make sure that everyone is shooting their weapons properly.
The board also required weekly surveys of the shooting areas' perimeter to look for bullets that may have flown over barriers.
Rankin Field officials were directed to give a report in 90 days to the Planning Commission, which will continue to be the governing body overseeing the range's operations.
The range opened five years ago shortly after the Planning Commission granted the Tulare County Deputy Sheriff's Association a special-use permit that allowed the plans on the land.
The range had two contracts to provide quarterly gun-refresher services to law-enforcement officers: the Tulare County Sheriff's Department, with more than 500 officers, and the Tulare City Police Department, with about 100 officers. The relationship between the range and residents of the four nearby homes was uneventful in the beginning, even as the range grew to include roughly 900 members from the public.
But the problems boiled over last summer after residents took their complaints to the Planning Commission.
At that time, Tulare County Sheriff Bill Wittman decided to halt the quarterly gun-refresher services for his deputies until the issue was resolved, county leaders said. It's unclear whether deputies will return to Rankin Field.
While range leaders argue that the "ricochet" is sound bouncing off nearby walls, they decided to reconfigure four of the five shooting areas to point east, away from private property.
A ballistics expert hired by Rankin Field said bullets found outside the range were the result of a "cue ball" effect, the process of fresh bullets hitting the berm and sending old bullets into the air at a harmless velocity.
Road 140 resident Wendy Stark said her son heard a ricochet in late November while playing outside and immediately fell to the ground, afraid that he would get hit.
On Dec. 4, she took her plea to close the range to the Planning Commission, which voted to close the range until Rankin Field hired a civil engineer to evaluate the problems.
Rankin Field leaders couldn't find a civil engineer with ballistics background to do the job and turned to experts with the National Rifle Association.
Ken Zachary, range technical training expert with the association, was one of several people who Tuesday told supervisors that Rankin Field poses no hazards.
Supervisors said the decision was one of the toughest they've made, but they believe the changes and the expert testimony are sufficient.
Little can calm Stark and other residents, who said they'll only feel safe if the range is covered or closed.
Range office manager Lyftogt said the rifle and shotgun shooting will likely continue, but in other areas of the range.
It's unclear how much the reconfiguration would cost and when it would be completed, she said.
The Fresno Bee
January 15, 2003, Wednesday SOUTH VALLEY EDITION
SECTION: MAIN NEWS; Pg. A1
LENGTH: 849 words
HEADLINE: Shooting range may stay open Tulare County board OKs operation with changes; neighbors worry about safety.
BYLINE: Javier Erik Olvera THE FRESNO BEE
DATELINE: VISALIA
BODY:
The Tulare County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday decided to allow Rankin Field Weapons Range to remain open despite pleas from nearby residents that it be shut down for their safety.
The supervisors' unanimous decision angered residents near the southeast Tulare shooting range, who claim they've heard ricochets and found bullets on their land.
The 4-0 vote will require Rankin Field officials to close one shooting area for .22-caliber rifles and shotguns until it's reconfigured so it points away from residents' property.
Four other shooting areas over the last six months have been altered to point away from residents' property to head off complaints of bullets found outside the range. But residents along rural Road 140 don't believe the planned change is good enough and that only a roof could stop bullets from potentially flying onto their land, possibly hurting somebody.
"It floors me," said neighbor Steve Canby, who presented supervisors with several Ziploc freezer bags that contained bullets he found on one edge of his 3.8 acres. "I guess it's going to take someone dying."
The decision ends nearly a year of dispute that catapulted into the spotlight Dec. 4 when the Tulare County Planning Commission voted to close the range until a civil engineer studied the problems.
Rankin Field officials immediately appealed the Planning Commission decision to the Board of Supervisors -- a move that
allowed the range to operate normally until the decision Tuesday.
Range office manager Vicki Lyftogt on Tuesday said range leaders are pleased with the outcome and will continue to offer services to members.
"We feel the range is safe," said Lyftogt. "We are not oblivious to the feeling of our neighbors. We've answered their concerns as they've been brought up and we feel they have nothing to fear."
The Board of Supervisors specifically wants the rifle and shotgun shooting area reconfigured so it no longer points south toward private property, but points east toward land where there are no homes. Other shooting areas already point toward the east.
Supervisors are also mandating that a trained range safety officer be on the grounds when the range is open to make sure that everyone is shooting their weapons properly.
The board also required weekly surveys of the shooting areas' perimeter to look for bullets that may have flown over barriers.
Rankin Field officials were directed to give a report in 90 days to the Planning Commission, which will continue to be the governing body overseeing the range's operations.
The range opened five years ago shortly after the Planning Commission granted the Tulare County Deputy Sheriff's Association a special-use permit that allowed the plans on the land.
The range had two contracts to provide quarterly gun-refresher services to law-enforcement officers: the Tulare County Sheriff's Department, with more than 500 officers, and the Tulare City Police Department, with about 100 officers. The relationship between the range and residents of the four nearby homes was uneventful in the beginning, even as the range grew to include roughly 900 members from the public.
But the problems boiled over last summer after residents took their complaints to the Planning Commission.
At that time, Tulare County Sheriff Bill Wittman decided to halt the quarterly gun-refresher services for his deputies until the issue was resolved, county leaders said. It's unclear whether deputies will return to Rankin Field.
While range leaders argue that the "ricochet" is sound bouncing off nearby walls, they decided to reconfigure four of the five shooting areas to point east, away from private property.
A ballistics expert hired by Rankin Field said bullets found outside the range were the result of a "cue ball" effect, the process of fresh bullets hitting the berm and sending old bullets into the air at a harmless velocity.
Road 140 resident Wendy Stark said her son heard a ricochet in late November while playing outside and immediately fell to the ground, afraid that he would get hit.
On Dec. 4, she took her plea to close the range to the Planning Commission, which voted to close the range until Rankin Field hired a civil engineer to evaluate the problems.
Rankin Field leaders couldn't find a civil engineer with ballistics background to do the job and turned to experts with the National Rifle Association.
Ken Zachary, range technical training expert with the association, was one of several people who Tuesday told supervisors that Rankin Field poses no hazards.
Supervisors said the decision was one of the toughest they've made, but they believe the changes and the expert testimony are sufficient.
Little can calm Stark and other residents, who said they'll only feel safe if the range is covered or closed.
Range office manager Lyftogt said the rifle and shotgun shooting will likely continue, but in other areas of the range.
It's unclear how much the reconfiguration would cost and when it would be completed, she said.