New Oceanside PD Range Facing Closure

[Marty]

Sign On San Diego

Noise main worry for some residents
By Lola Sherman - Union-Tribune
4/03/04

Oceanside Police Department members practice their marksmanship.

OCEANSIDE – The first time David Shore heard gunshots in his neighborhood, he phoned police to report what he thought was criminal activity. He learned that it was the police doing the shooting – at their new firing range.

Now he and Councilman Rocky Chavez want to know if there's a way to muffle noise from the range, at the city's sewage treatment plant on North River Road. Chavez has called for discussion at the City Council meeting Wednesday evening. Knowing that the city Planning Commission had issued a conditional-use permit for the range, Shore and a neighbor, Paul Diaz, went to the commission to complain.

Shore, an attorney, said he knows the range is necessary for the Police Department, but "it's gunshots – in your neighborhood." "There's always going to be neighborhood noise, but I prefer that it not be gunshots," he said, adding, "I'm not looking to close it down."

Chavez, a friend of Shore's, heard the complaints at the commission session and called a neighborhood meeting. About a dozen people also concerned about noise from the range showed up to complain. Like Shore, Chavez said he isn't seeking to shut down the range, just to see if there is a way to curb the noise.

Range master Rich Davis said the range has never been over the 50-decibel limit placed on it by the Planning Commission, but that's for the gunshots themselves, not when added to ambient noise.

Bill Maddux of EDAW Inc., the San Diego company hired by the city to help the firing range meet its noise requirements, said Thursday that he will explain to the council the various kinds of decibel ratings applying to human hearing. Maddux said he tested the noise on Malibu Point Way, the street nearest the shooting range, and found that someone putting dishes away on a shelf exceeded one 50-decibel measure and people talking reached an 80-decibel reading. Davis said Maddux helped design the firing range's walls, which are up to 30 feet tall and are higher than what was there before, and that they help to contain the noise within the shooting area.

Until a decade ago, police had a firing range at the western end of the San Luis Rey Valley. It was gobbled up by construction of the state Route 78 expressway. Then there was a temporary range on leased land now being developed as part of the Morro Hills residential neighborhood.

The City Council determined last year that a police site in the Wire Mountain area was too close to the Prince of Peace Benedictine monastery. Also, a site near Whelan Lake was rejected because it might disturb the birds that nest or rest there.


The $170,000 range is on an asphalt lot about half the size of a football field, with ground-up tires at one end to absorb the bullets. Four officers can fire at a time at either paper or metal targets, and each of the city's 180 officers must qualify on the range every quarter. They can hone their skills on their own as well. The range is open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., but Davis said there might be activity only half the days of the month.

Not everyone in the neighborhood is complaining. "It doesn't bother me," said William Fraser, taking an afternoon walk along North River Road recently. "I do not even know where it is."

Wednesday's 6 p.m. City Council meeting will be held in the council chambers, 300 N. Coast Highway.

[Marty]

[City Council Addresses Range Noise
April 9, 2004

OCEANSIDE – The City Council promises to try to muffle the sound of gunfire from the new police firing range.

The council took no votes late Wednesday, but told City Manager Steve Jepsen to determine what can be done about the gunshot noise and how much any corrective measures would cost.

Councilman Rocky Chavez told neighborhood residents that their complaints should be directed not at police but at the council, which approved the range.

Chavez, a retired Marine colonel, said he "loves" the sound of guns but realizes the noise annoys some neighbors closest to the range, which is on the city's sewage-treatment plant property off North River Road.

Resident David Shore said gunfire startled his son, who could hear it through closed windows while standing under a running shower. "I cannot concentrate on what I'm doing in my home," resident Paul Diaz said.

The range opened in January after a long search to replace a temporary range closed for Morro Hills subdivision construction. A site at Wire Mountain was rejected as being too near and annoying to Benedictine monks at Prince of Peace Abbey, and one near Lake Whelan was scratched because it would disturb birds at a refuge there.

Leo Shyp said residents are entitled to the same consideration as the monks and the birds. "I don't think the sound can be quieted enough," he said, asking that the $170,000 range be moved.

Matthew Lyons, speaking for the Oceanside Police Officers Association, said noise from gunfire at nearby Camp Pendleton is even louder. Besides, the police training benefits the whole community, whereas only a few residents are complaining, he said.

Police Chief Michael Poehlman said noise from the firing range is not as loud as that created by most businesses in the city. Poehlman said he will suggest several possibilities for lessening the noise, and it will be up to the council to decide which ones to employ. "It's an issue of cost," he said.

The city's 180 police officers must qualify four times a year on the firing range, which is open from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week to accommodate various shifts without paying overtime.

Range master Rich Davis said average use is under four hours a day.