Meeting Notes 080116 - Laserfiche WebLink

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7 to recommend to the Board what we think they should do. The ordinance that had been rejected by the Board of Commissioners earlier in the year had distance in it, and it created a huge backlash so we have to be very careful about how we define the distance. Distance is key. When I shoot I consider a lot of things, and distance is one of them. I want to be careful not to go back towhere we were four months ago. I would be “on board” for distance, and certainly for day/time restrictions. I also think Ms. Conti brings up a good point, he said, that there is no reason why we can’t parallel some of the hunting laws that are in effect, like shooting on Sundays between 9:30 and 12:30 and things like that; it’s common sense. I’m also on board with zero tolerance for alcohol. And of course you have to have the teeth, and the large fine is the teeth. x Mr. Hunnell said he did not fully understand how a distance restriction would be defined or what purpose it would serve. I think it has to be related to the projectile, and how it is contained within the property line, he said. We should not pass something that is not enforceable. I’m not opposed to a Sunday restriction, he said, but I think it is disrespectful to people for whom that day is their one day offwhen they can shoot. A lot of the hunting regulations have transitioned from a Christian-centered approach to being more respectful of other religions that do not worship on Sundays. Personally, I’m not opposed to it, but we need to be cognizant of other ethnic and religious backgrounds. x Dr. Arvik said he agreed with having a distance restriction. I also think we have to recommend somethingto the Board about the noise. The County needs to have some way to react to a situation where a person is creating noise repeatedly that is irritating everyone else. We also need to have day and time restrictions. Safety guidelines for law enforcement should be part of their basic training. I like large fines. But I would not let whoever wrote the last ordinance write this one, he said. In reply to a question from Mr. Tilley, Mr. Roberts said he would draft an ordinanceafter the Committee identified the things that the Committee thought should be addressed in it. Following Mr. Roberts, the other resource people and the two liaisons to the Board of County Commissioners then shared their thoughts on the discussion thus far, as follows: x Officer Orr said there are good ways to measure an alcohol violation. You can use the Alcho- Sensor to check for zero tolerance, so zero tolerance would be an enforceable goal. Also note that you would have to exempt hunting. For example, people are allowed 24-hours a day, seven days a week, to hunt coyotes; and dove hunting creates “sustained gunfire.” x Chief Sykes said the Alcho-Sensor is useful on a willing person, but if the goal is zero tolerance then any additional evidence we can provideto the court demonstrating shooting while drinking would be helpful to us, for example, smelling alcohol on the personor by the shooter’s own admission. The other element that would be important is an exemption for hunting, because it would prevent people from getting confused. Officer Orr added, “playing devil’s advocate,” that the bad thing about a hunting exemption is that people will claim to be hunting in order to get around the restrictions. Mr. Tesoro agreed. x Commissioner Jacobs noted that some developers sometime use exemptions to get around restrictions in the County’s land use ordinances. For example, they will timber a property to get around a tree protection ordinance. People will do that, he said. He asked if people who live on one-acre lots,for example, are able to shoot without disturbing their neighbors by the noise. I’m listening for that, he said.