Jefferson County commissioners enact new shooting range moratorium

PORT TOWNSEND — The Jefferson County Board of Commissioners have approved a new moratorium on commercial shooting range permits.

The commissioners approved the ordinance establishing a new moratorium Monday afternoon, after a public hearing they conducted at the Fort Worden Commons, where just about two dozen people attended and only two gave testimony.

The ordinance establishes the moratorium on submission, acceptance, processing or approval of any Jefferson County permit applications for any proposed use, development, proposal or project for the siting, construction or modification of any commercial shooting facility through March 23, 2020, in unincorporated Jefferson County, commission documents said.

The moratorium may be lifted early if the commissioners finalize the changes to the Title 8 and Title 18 shooting range ordinances before then, said Philip Morley, Jefferson County administrator.

The new moratorium marks a change in procedures for the commissioners. When a new moratorium is now enacted, that same day the public hearing will be scheduled, Morley said.

The moratorium is in response to the state Growth Management Hearings Board siding with the Tarboo Ridge Coalition, which has opposed Joe D’Amico’s proposed 40-acre shooting range near Tarboo Lake, on Sept. 16, ruling that county ordinances Title 8 and Title 18 did not follow state law in regard to commercial shooting facilities.

The Growth Management Hearings Board determined it has jurisdiction over Title 8 and Title 18 — classifying them as land ordinances and deeming them invalid — and that the county failed to conduct a State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) review for Title 8, in violation of state law RCW 43.21C.030.

“The purpose of the moratorium is to allow the county to develop reasonable regulations that comply with number one, the recent decision by the Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board and also to provide for and promote public safety, not to prohibit or expressly regulate the discharge of firearms,” Morley said.

The commissioners previously enacted a moratorium Sept. 23, with the understanding that a public hearing would be conducted within 60 days, in accordance to state law. That hearing did not happen and that moratorium expired, Morley said.

The moratorium would affect the Jefferson County Sportsman’s Association(JCSA) if the club would need permits to build or modify its current facilities, because the club would be unable to do so, Morley said. However, the current Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO) grant that JCSA has already submitted an application for should not be affected.

Both of the two residents who gave testimony at the meeting supported the moratorium and had encouraged the commissioners to enact it.

“I hope that you will recognize that even though you have a very sparse crowd here today, there are thousands of persons in this county that are hoping you will do the right thing in protecting services from noise and damages caused by outdoor shooting facilities,” resident John Austin said.

In addition to the moratorium, the commissioners also filed an appeal in Thurston County Superior Court on Nov. 13, challenging the Hearings Board’s decision, but the commissioners and county staff still plan to meet deadlines for the modifications that the Hearings Board required the county make on the two ordinances.

The commissioners also heard recommendations on the two ordinances from planning commission during the morning session of the commissioners meeting. The planning commission is recommending no future outdoor commercial shooting facilities at all, but that input will be evaluated by the commissioners at a different time, along with staff recommendations after the new year.

There will be a separate hearing on the two ordinance revisions at a later time.

The full moratorium can be read at tinyurl.com/PDN-JeffComoratorium.

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Jefferson County reporter Zach Jablonski can be reached at 360-385-2335, ext. 5, or at zjablonski@peninsuladailynews.com