Post by shoreman on Sept 23, 2006 15:35:11 GMT -5
"It's a nuisance to say the least. You can never have a backyard barbecue," Russ Rentschler said. "It's just annoying to have to listen to that constantly."
I'll tell you what's a nuisance: people who build next to a range and bitch about the noise.
City orders gun club to close
By Bethania Palma Staff Writer
AZUSA - Time has run out for the San Gabriel Valley Gun Club.
www.sgvtribune.com/news/ci_4371862
The Azusa City Council will issue the club official notice Monday that it will no longer be authorized to use the property at 4001 Fish Canyon Road as a shooting range.
"We anticipate that they will probably continue to operate and possibly sue the city," Assistant City Manager Robert Person said. "They can challenge it legally and keep operating, or they can get our letter and cease and desist their use and close it down."
Representatives from the gun club did not return phone calls.
Person said the city gave the club requirements that would allow them to operate until Dec. 31, 2007, at the current location near the San Gabriel River along the border with Duarte. The council on Monday rescinded the settlement offer, Person said.
"They did not provide what was asked of them, so the settlement agreement was taken off the table," Person said.
He said the requirements included providing reclamation plans and a timeline demonstrating the club's plans to relocate to Burro Canyon in the Angeles National Forest, about 15miles northeast of its current location.
Person said trouble for the club, which has been at its current location since at least the early 1950s, started about three years ago, when the Mountain Cove housing development was built to its northeast.
"Houses were built there, and the residents didn't want them there anymore," he said, adding that residents mostly complained of noise, as well as safety concerns and lead from the bullets getting into the ground water.
The city then rezoned the property for retail and housing, excluding the gun club. In February 2005, the club was given 18 months to move out or shut down.
Neighbors in an older neighborhood to the northwest, which is over the city limit in Duarte, said they do not mind the gun club's presence.
"It's not a problem," said Johnny Roy, who lives on the 3500 block of Conata Street. He compared the noise to a neighbor's lawn mower that was buzzing in the background.
"You can hear it, but it's almost like somebody working in the yard. You can hear it, but you don't know where it's coming from," he said.
Roy said he had heard about the club's problems with Azusa but said he finds the situation ironic.
"It was there when they began construction," he said. "It was like that when they were laying down the plans."
Person said Duarte residents are shielded from the club's noise by nature.
"The mountain kind of hugs the gun club, and so all the noise goes out into the direction of the river," he said. "Duarte's not affected by that, so all the noise goes into Azusa."
Mountain Cove residents were split over the club.
"It's a nuisance to say the least. You can never have a backyard barbecue," Russ Rentschler said. "It's just annoying to have to listen to that constantly."
Rentschler expressed mixed feelings about the club, where he says he learned to shoot as a teen.
"To me it's kind of an end of an era, which I understand," he said. "I know there's a lot of emotion tied to that club, so on one hand it's sad, but on the other hand, we've outgrown the gun club as a city."
His wife, Sandra, said noise was only one factor.
"We have a serious lead contamination problem and a huge fire risk," she said. "We're in the hills here, and this last fire charred six acres. The fire department said if that fire had gone over the ridge, it would have threatened the homes. The noise is only one issue, but the others are much more serious."
Some in Mountain Cove support the club.
"I feel that the noise level is not that bad," John Hutcheson said. "The only time we really notice it is when the police or military are training because they use semi-automatic fire. But we normally don't hear it at all."
I'll tell you what's a nuisance: people who build next to a range and bitch about the noise.
City orders gun club to close
By Bethania Palma Staff Writer
AZUSA - Time has run out for the San Gabriel Valley Gun Club.
www.sgvtribune.com/news/ci_4371862
The Azusa City Council will issue the club official notice Monday that it will no longer be authorized to use the property at 4001 Fish Canyon Road as a shooting range.
"We anticipate that they will probably continue to operate and possibly sue the city," Assistant City Manager Robert Person said. "They can challenge it legally and keep operating, or they can get our letter and cease and desist their use and close it down."
Representatives from the gun club did not return phone calls.
Person said the city gave the club requirements that would allow them to operate until Dec. 31, 2007, at the current location near the San Gabriel River along the border with Duarte. The council on Monday rescinded the settlement offer, Person said.
"They did not provide what was asked of them, so the settlement agreement was taken off the table," Person said.
He said the requirements included providing reclamation plans and a timeline demonstrating the club's plans to relocate to Burro Canyon in the Angeles National Forest, about 15miles northeast of its current location.
Person said trouble for the club, which has been at its current location since at least the early 1950s, started about three years ago, when the Mountain Cove housing development was built to its northeast.
"Houses were built there, and the residents didn't want them there anymore," he said, adding that residents mostly complained of noise, as well as safety concerns and lead from the bullets getting into the ground water.
The city then rezoned the property for retail and housing, excluding the gun club. In February 2005, the club was given 18 months to move out or shut down.
Neighbors in an older neighborhood to the northwest, which is over the city limit in Duarte, said they do not mind the gun club's presence.
"It's not a problem," said Johnny Roy, who lives on the 3500 block of Conata Street. He compared the noise to a neighbor's lawn mower that was buzzing in the background.
"You can hear it, but it's almost like somebody working in the yard. You can hear it, but you don't know where it's coming from," he said.
Roy said he had heard about the club's problems with Azusa but said he finds the situation ironic.
"It was there when they began construction," he said. "It was like that when they were laying down the plans."
Person said Duarte residents are shielded from the club's noise by nature.
"The mountain kind of hugs the gun club, and so all the noise goes out into the direction of the river," he said. "Duarte's not affected by that, so all the noise goes into Azusa."
Mountain Cove residents were split over the club.
"It's a nuisance to say the least. You can never have a backyard barbecue," Russ Rentschler said. "It's just annoying to have to listen to that constantly."
Rentschler expressed mixed feelings about the club, where he says he learned to shoot as a teen.
"To me it's kind of an end of an era, which I understand," he said. "I know there's a lot of emotion tied to that club, so on one hand it's sad, but on the other hand, we've outgrown the gun club as a city."
His wife, Sandra, said noise was only one factor.
"We have a serious lead contamination problem and a huge fire risk," she said. "We're in the hills here, and this last fire charred six acres. The fire department said if that fire had gone over the ridge, it would have threatened the homes. The noise is only one issue, but the others are much more serious."
Some in Mountain Cove support the club.
"I feel that the noise level is not that bad," John Hutcheson said. "The only time we really notice it is when the police or military are training because they use semi-automatic fire. But we normally don't hear it at all."