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| Submitted comments will appear below after staff approval. | |
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| Gary and Joanne Quarles | 2/29/2008 6:41:02 PM |
| Our hangar at 19744 Birchwood Spur Road, Birchwood Airport currently has two bullet holes in it. We use the hangar for personal use as well as for the base of operations for our business, Arctic Helicopter Company. The proposed range will be even closer to our hangar than the existing one. Who will the next bullet hit? One of us? Our friends? Our customers? What will the next bullet hit? A person? An airplane? A gas tank? A vehicle? An animal? Where will the next bullet hit? Our hangar? The CAP hangar? Our neighbors' hangars? When should we tell our friends or customers to come to the hangar? At a time when the noise is so deafening you can't hear each other speak? At a time when you least expect to have stray shots "rebounding from the ground at a very obtuse angle" or ricocheting. The possibility of ricochet is one of the reasons for the common firearms safety rule - "Be sure of your target - and of what is beyond it." What is beyond the proposed range is already known. The variables are how many people, their pets and their belongings are at the airport on any given day at any given time. We support the right to bear arms. We support training and understand its importance. We do not and cannot support choosing the Birchwood location. Gary and Joni Quarles | |
| Robert Reagan | 2/28/2008 5:56:23 PM |
| I think it is pretty obvious that a shooting range of almost any type would be a "Locally Undesirable Land Use" ("LULU"). Therefore, as a resident of the Eklutna Valley, I am naturally opposed to location of a shooting range in the Eklutna Valley. That said, I think that the Birchwood site (#6) is less harmful than either of the Eklutna Valley sites (#'s 1 and 2) because it is more compatable with local uses. The primary issue which I could speak to is noise. There is no land use in the Eklutna Valley that produces any significant amount of noise, so a heavily used outdoor shooting range will seriously change the character of the valley, which is currently used for residential purposes by people who chose it partly for its quiet environment, and which also contains the state's most heavily used (I believe) camping and (non-motorized 4 days per week) outdoor recreation park. By contrast, site #6 is already pretty noisy, being surrounded by a public shooting range, a railroad, and an airport. Not only do these land uses produce considerable noise, they, themselves, would not be seriously affected by the additional noise of a second shooting range. This is not to say that I think that the effect on surrounding land at site 6 would necessarily be trivial. Any increase in noise is naturally an irritation, and any increase in hazard for surrounding land would be unacceptable (however, it seems unlikely to me that a training facility for law enforcement personnel would present much hazard from stray bullets, perhaps unlike the existing range). I therefore believe that wherever the range is located, its locally undesirable effects should be mitigated to the greatest extent feasible, and some consideration should be given to compensation for unmitigatable effects. Finally, if there is any way it could possibly be done, I would strongly prefer that the current practice of training at existing ranges be continued, possibly with a larger budget for use fees or other arrangements with the owners. | |
| Eric Odegard | 2/26/2008 8:04:17 PM |
| I fully support an outdoor law enforcement range near the existing Birchwood range. | |
| Chugiak Community Council Linda Kovac, Secretary-Treasurer | 2/26/2008 2:28:45 PM |
| At the 01/17/08 Chugiak Community Council (“Council”) meeting, several members of the Arctic Public Safety Training Institute (Arctic PSTI) gave a presentation about their organization. Arctic PSTI was created as a coalition of regional local, state, federal, and private first-responder agencies in 2004. Arctic PSTI states that it has a critical need to create a dedicated, secure, outdoor gun range for training purposes within the Municipality of Anchorage (MOA). ----- Presenters described the process Arctic PSTI has used to try and locate an appropriate site for the gun range. After developing a screening matrix of all of their possible sites, Arctic PSTI is recommending “Site 6”. Site 6 is an Eklutna, Inc.-owned parcel located adjacent to Birchwood Airport and Birchwood Shooting Range. Although Site 6, 34 acres in size, is not as large as Arctic PSTI would have liked, they stated that Site 6 would support the various functions they require. A barrier structure would need to be erected between Site 6 and the Birchwood Shooting Range for safety and security reasons. Traffic impacts are expected to be minor. ----- The next steps for Arctic PSTI include: verifying with the FAA that site activities would not impact flight patterns; rezoning the site from Industrial to PLI; adding gun ranges as a conditional use for PLI zoning; conducting hearings before the MOA Planning and Zoning Commission; obtaining a long-term lease from Eklutna, Inc.; seeking state funding to develop the range; and determining future O&M costs. It was noted that federal funding is not available to construct such locally-owned facilities although the range would be able to charge user fees to those federal agencies that might eventually use the range. ----- Arctic PSTI asked for public input on the Site 6 recommendation and distributed comment forms. Chugiak Community Council understands and supports Arctic PSTI’s goal to have a dedicated shooting range and believes that Site 6 is an appropriate location. There were also several residents from Eklutna Valley in the audience, all of whom endorsed the Site 6 recommendation. At the Council’s 11/15/07 meeting, the Council unanimously passed a motion to recommend Site 6. Members wanted to strengthen the past Council action. A new motion passed unanimously to recommend Site 6 for Arctic PSTI’s future gun range and to recommend that the State of Alaska provide funding for its development. ----- Arctic PSTI was welcomed into the neighborhood. | |
| Maxine Andrews | 2/26/2008 12:43:29 PM |
| I believe that the police will be better trained if they have access to a dedicated outdoor firing range. law enforcement agencies critically need this long overdue public safety asset in Anchorage. Since available choices are limited I believe that the site adjacent to the existing Birchwood firing range is a good choice. I recommend that you move this project ahead so law enforcement agencies have a place to safely train with the critical tools of their profession. I have lived in the community for over50 years and there has always been a shoting range in the location between the airport and the inlet. | |
| Bruce Richter | 2/26/2008 12:17:32 PM |
| A dedicated outdoor firing range for law enforcement agencies is a critically needed and long overdue public safety asset for Anchorage. After a multi year site review of all potential sites in the entire Municipality of Anchorage Police Service Area, the available choices are limited. By far the best choice remaining in Anchorage is adjacent to the existing Birchwood firing range. When the Anchorage public calls 911 to request law enforcement help, the public wants and requires the best trained and most qualified emergency response personnel. Please move this project ahead so law enforcement agencies have a place to safely train with the critical tools of their profession. Any other option short of a dedicated outdoor range for police located within the Anchorage Police Service Area is unacceptable. Existing indoor ranges do not allow training with all issued weapons. The military base ranges must give priority in scheduling and facilities to military units training for deployment, and are not a readily available or suitable alternative for law enforcement requirements. Locating a dedicated law enforcement outdoor range adjacent to the existing Birchwood range is the best alternative. The range “fan” will be sited with all targets away from the airport and sited out towards the inlet. Airport facilities, buildings and planes are NOT placed at risk by this plan. Do not miss this opportunity to establish a dedicated range. If you ever call 911 and need an armed police response, you want the best trained officers possible. A dedicated outdoor law enforcement firearms training range is long overdue and is badly needed. | |
| Peter Askeland | 2/25/2008 5:17:07 AM |
| Birchwood is not a good location for another firing range as the existing one is dangerous enough! I have a hangar right across the road from the range and both of my neighbors have bullet holes in their walls. My door faces the range so I'm more likely to have myself or my plane shot. Also, it seems like it's only a matter of time before a plane in the Birchwood traffic pattern will be hit by a bullet. There is not only rifle fire from high caliber guns but automatic weapons are being fired there as well. Another range should be located where there is absolutely no threat to people, planes, buildings or animals!! I can't think of a worse place to locate another range when the existing one very seldom has any people using it! | |
| James Riley | 2/24/2008 12:46:09 PM |
| I am one to the owners of a 95 acre tract of land located at mile 7 Eklutna Lake Road. Eklutna Lake area is surrounded by Chugiak State Park and is a very narrow valley. I am againts constructing a shooting range in any State Park and I think the noise will be echo in this narrow vally and will be a hugh negative factor for Park visitors and land owners | |
| Debbie Thon | 2/24/2008 12:19:53 PM |
| As a 24 year resident of Eklutna Lake Road, I have seen many changes over the years up here, from the building of the Eklutna Water Project, to the development of the State Park. But being selected for two of the final possible locations for this shooting range has alarmed our community. The public hearing held on September 12th of 2007 was largely composed of the residents of Eklutna Valley. While it was a "civil" meeting, all of our participants were in opposition to a shooting range. Our Community Council did draft a letter of unanimous opposition to this shooting range being located in Eklutna Valley. Unfortunately, it looks like it is too late to get this included since a 10 day notice before your meeting is indicated. (I do have a copy of the letter if you'd like it.) We were very relieved that the top site selection is Birchwood near an existing shooting range, and hope that this site will be the final determination as the chosen site. But I did want to make you aware both of my position, and that of our Community Council. Thank you, Debbie Thon | |
| Herb Hancock | 2/24/2008 11:10:10 AM |
| I own a hangar that is close to the proposed Birchwood site along with other hangars that line the west side of the airport. I realize the existing range on the north end has been grandfathered in, but the proposed range next to an airport with numerous aircraft parked outside is a dangerous use of this property. I currently have two bullet holes in my hangar (one in the man door about head height) and have heard bullets ricocheting over the years. The existing range and the proposed range not only create a lot of noise, but also tend to pose a hazard to pilots due to the physical damage a bullet might cause to an aircraft parked outside. I also have a concern that another firing range will negatively affect property values on the west side of the airport. | |
| Darrell Breese | 2/11/2008 2:39:07 PM |
| I believe the Birchwood site is the best location for the range. Being located in close proximity to an existing range and seperated from residential development by Birchwood Airport and the Alaska Railroad it appears to be the site with the least impact to the surrounding area. Hours of operation would have to be limited as noise from the existing range tends to echo, especially when firing large caliber or automatic weapons. | |