PORT TOWNSEND — A public hearing on a draft commercial shooting facility ordinance has been postponed to Oct. 1 after originally being set for Monday, Sept. 24.
The meeting at 6:30 p.m. at the Jefferson County Courthouse, Superior Court courtroom, will be held to take written and oral testimony regarding an ordinance which, if enacted, would be renamed Chapter 8.50 JCC “Shooting in Jefferson County,” add Article III that would require an operating permit for existing and proposed commercial shooting facilities and harmonize the existing Articles I and II.
Because of the change in meeting date, written comments can be submitted no later than 4:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 5. Comments can be mailed to the Board of County Commissioners, P.O. Box 1220, Port Townsend, WA 98368 or emailed to jeffbocc@co.jefferson.wa.us.
Commissioners David Sullivan and Kathleen Kler voted to approve the date change. Commissioner Kate Dean was absent.
The date change was necessary because of what Sullivan called a “snafu.”
The Port Townsend and Jefferson County Leader did not publish the legal notice in its Wednesday newspaper, making it impossible for the county to meet legal publishing requirements. In order to hold the hearing Sept. 24, the legal notice must be published 10 days prior.
“With the failure to publish on the 12th, we can’t meet that statutory requirement of at least 10 days,” said Philip Morley, county administrator.
Attempts to reach The Leader for comment Monday were unsuccessful.
Commissioner Sullivan said the gun range moratorium is set to expire Nov. 18.
“You have to show you are making a good faith effort to make progress,” said Sullivan. “That’s something that’s very easy to demonstrate thus far. There’s been a lot of process and a lot of comment. We have to follow the legal processes to develop an ordinance that includes public hearings.
“It’s clear and on the record. After the hearing, taking action can take some time. There are lot of options on how we do the work. It doesn’t preclude other options.”
During public comments, Tom Thiersch of Jefferson County was in favor of the postponement.
“It might not be a bad thing. I’m looking at the timing of this whole thing and I’m seeing it as a rush to judgment. The commissioners have a long and storied history of being somewhat slow in action, taking their time, deliberating fully on a subject.
“Out of fairness to the planning commission, which has a highly compressed schedule, and to allow yourselves enough time to thoughtfully consider the testimony that you will be receiving on this commercial shooting ordinance, I would recommend that you would extend the moratorium for at least another six months. Give yourselves ample time, do it right.”
Peter Neuland of the Tarboo Ridge Coalition agreed with Thiersch.
“Take the time to get it right and extend the moratorium. TRC is holding a lot of community forums and we are talking to a lot of people everywhere. They realize that we can’t explain the ordinance in two hours. You probably know that because Mr. Hunsucker [Jefferson County chief civil deputy prosecuting attorney] has tried to explain it in two hours and there are still a great many questions. One of the problems is that we are having testimony but we are not having a dialogue. We need a community dialogue.
“This is one of the most important issues that you will deal with. I realize there are time limits. But we have time. We have time to get it right. It would be a grave mistake to rush this process and fail to get it right because the dangers of getting it wrong are extreme.”
Kler clarified that the public hearing is about the ordinance and not about land-rights issues.
“This is about health and safety. It isn’t about the philosophical second amendment rights.”
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Jefferson County Editor/Reporter Jeannie McMacken can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jmcmacken@peninsuladailynews.com.
