Agenda - 03-22-2016 - 6-a - Minutes

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11 1 John Roberts said no, only some portions of this ordinance were adopted in Lenoir 2 County. He said the Sheriff offered the Lenoir ordinance as a reasonable model and portions of 3 it were combined with the Planning Board's recommendations to create the document before 4 the BOCC this evening. 5 Commissioner Jacobs suggested returning to a model similar to the Orange County 6 Hunting Committee, which last met in 2001. He said such a committee could bring together all 7 stakeholders to discuss issues and proposed resolutions. 8 Commissioner Jacobs said anyone in attendance this evening interested in participating 9 in such a committee should contact the Clerk's office. 10 Commissioner Rich commented to the audience that it is certainly permissible to record 11 the meeting, but noted all meetings are filmed and can be streamed from the County website, 12 or downloaded at any time. 13 14 PUBLIC COMMENT: 15 Joshua Summey said he is a sixth generation of Orange County and his entire family 16 enjoys shooting sports. He said is he surprised by this proposed ordinance, as it is onerous, 17 intrusive and unnecessary. He said the buffer requirements are totally unreasonable. He is 18 against the proposed ordinance. 19 Harry Sumner said he agreed with first speaker and this ordinance should not be 20 passed. He said he liked Commissioner Jacobs' suggestion of a hunting committee. He said 21 he is disappointed that he only learned about this issue yesterday by happenstance, noting he 22 does not have the Internet. He said to please notify people that are not in the digital age. He 23 asked if this ordinance is intended to regulate noise or firearms, and, if it is the former, then 24 firecrackers should also be listed. He said this ordinance should be dead in the water right 25 now, until further input is offered. 26 Heather Florio said she and her husband are new to northern Orange County and they 27 left their home in Colorado because of such regulations, bringing their multimillion-dollar 28 business to Orange County. 29 Phillip Florio said they have many employees who hunt and though the proposed 30 ordinance does not address hunting, it may end up doing just that. He said some people need 31 to hunt their land in order to have food to eat. He said there is a lot more work to be done on 32 this issue. 33 Scott Jens said he is a retired police officer and he is here to talk about safety and the 34 buffer zone. He said citizens are their own first line of defense. He referred to the buffer zone, 35 saying he owns 8 acres, and has a berm. He said building a berm, which would comply with 36 the proposed ordinance, would cost him $4,500 alone for the dirt and another $2,000 for the 37 labor. He said the proposed ordinance is discrimination based on lack of income, and he does 38 not have $6,500. He asked the BOCC to take this into account. 39 Thomas Warren asked if there is a reason for the proposed ordinance and where he 40 lives this is not a problem. He said the ordinance seems to be written for a commercial 41 shooting range. He said the ordinance uses the word "or" between the items in section C, thus 42 if he meets one of ten items, one meets the ordinance. He said this is a difficult ordinance to 43 read and understand. He agreed that the backstop issue is excessive. He said he has 50 44 acres and would require 100 signs. He said he wonders how signage will be enforced, and the 45 purpose of it on portions of land where shooting does not occur. He said he finds the signs to 46 be an unfunded mandate; and if the County desires signs, the County should provide them. He 47 said there are many inconsistencies in this ordinance. He said if some people did complain, 48 how are the rights of one side balanced with the rights of the other side. He does not agree 49 with a hunting committee but rather asks the BOCC to vote the ordinance down.