HomeMy WebLinkAbout20102413.tiff LOHF SHAIMAN JACOBS HYMAN & FEIGER PC
ATTORNEYS AT LAW
950 SOUTH CHERRY STREET,SUITE 900
DENVER,COLORADO 80246-2666
5 A ' t] FACSIMILE 303.753.9997
TELEPHONE 303.753.9000
www.lohfshaiman.com
CHARLES H.JACOBS
cjacobs@lohfshaiman.com
October 4, 2010
Via Email: labell(afs.jed.us, Fedex and P Class Mail
Lori A. Bell, District Ranger
U.S. Forest Service
Pawnee National Grassland
660 "0" Street
Greeley, CO 80601
Re: Proposed Developed Shooting Area
Sections 36 and 24 near County Road 88
Our File No. 5250.01
Dear Ms. Bell:
We represent Roger and Gail Dieckhaus, who own and use a residence at 29899 County Road
88, Ault, Colorado 80610, and Albert Kane, who owns and uses a residence at 29400 County
Road 88, Ault, Colorado 80610.
Mr. and Mrs. Dieckhaus and Dr. Kane have asked us to provide their objections and comments
to the Proposed Developed Shooting Area described in your letter addressed to "Dear Interested
Party" and dated September 7, 2010. I enclose a copy of that letter for your reference.
The Dieckhaus and Kane residences lie in Sections 25 and 35 respectively and are depicted on
the enclosed copy of the map you included with your letter. As you can see, the two Proposed
Developed Shooting Areas are close to our clients' residences. Section 26, one Proposed
Developed Shooting Area, borders both our clients' properties and potentially places them down
range of the line of shooting. The alternative location in Section 34 similarly is bordered by
private property on 3 sides.
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Lori A. Bell, District Ranger
Re: Pawnee National Grasslands Shooting Ranges
October 4, 2010
Page 2
Our clients are surprised that you would propose to build Developed Shooting Areas so close to
their residences, or for that matter to any private properties, when there is such a vast expanse of
uninhabited land in the Pawnee National Grasslands. Our clients object to you placing the
Shooting Areas in the suggested locations on numerous grounds and have numerous questions
and concerns regarding the social, economic and environmental impacts of the Proposed
Developed Shooting Areas:
1. Nothing in your letter commits the Forest Service to prepare an Environmental
Impact Statement ("EIS"). Our clients anticipate substantial environmental impact on the
Proposed Developed Shooting Areas arising from the imported dirt to be used to build the berms,
the increased automobile and pedestrian traffic, the landscaping and the general construction.
Our clients request that the Forest Service prepare a formal Environmental Impact Statement for
review. If you believe that the Forest Service is not required to prepare an EIS, our clients want
to know the basis for that belief Furthermore, even if applicable regulations do not require a
formal EIS, our clients request that the Forest Service prepare one informally so that all can
determine the nature and scope of the environmental impacts that the Forest Service reasonably
expects. Our clients believe that all of these impacts will be negative, and intend to pursue
whatever remedies are available to them if the EIS or similar evaluation such as an
Environmental Assessment suggests otherwise.
2. In addition to other environmental factors, if the Proposed Developed Shooting
Areas are developed and become popular, our clients anticipate that the traffic, both on County
Roads 88 and 57, will increase substantially, creating noise, litter, dust, fumes and other social
and environmental effects detrimental to the quiet enjoyment of their property. Only a few years
ago the park and visitors' center on the corner of County Road 57 north of Highway 14 was
closed due to the Forest Service's inability to maintain the structures present at that time, prevent
the accumulation of litter, prevent shooting damage and protect the natural resources of the
Pawnee National Grasslands. Our clients are worried that the Forest Service will have the same
problems at the Proposed Developed Shooting Areas.
3. The Environmental Protection Agency recommends that plans for lead abatement
and periodic lead removal be included in the design of any designated shooting area such as the
Proposed Developed Shooting Areas covered by your letter. Our clients want to know if the
Forest Service has included these abatement plans in its development process.
4. Both Sections 26 and 34 are known to accumulate standing water during the
spring and summer months. This is undesirable in areas that will potentially accumulate lead
material and our clients are concerned this may have negative consequences for nearby riparian
areas, raptor nesting areas and raptor breeding areas that seasonally include large numbers of
hawks, eagles and other raptors. Our clients want to know what the Forest Service intends to do
about these negative environmental impacts.
Lori A. Bell, District Ranger
Re: Pawnee National Grasslands Shooting Ranges
October 4, 2010
Page 3
5. The Forest Service apparently does not intend to staff the Proposed Developed
Shooting Areas with attendants or trained range safety officers. People with rifles, handguns or
shotguns likely will congregate in the Proposed Developed Shooting Areas to shoot without
supervision. They have an open invitation to congregate and create unacceptable risks of
personal injury and property damage to themselves, each other, our clients and other bystanders.
Failure to provide staff for Proposed Developed Shooting Areas violates the express provisions
of the Weld County Zoning Ordinance, particularly Section 23-4-370 (copy enclosed for
reference), and violates the letter and spirit of other industry standards and best practices
presentations.
6. For example, the National Rifle Association recommended guidelines for safe
shooting ranges, suggest training for persons using shooting ranges and staffing by certified
Range Officers. Our clients want to know what provisions the Forest Service has made to
provide such training or safety supervision. The Forest Service should not develop and operate
the Proposed Developed Shooting Areas without providing an adequate staff of qualified, trained
supervisory personnel.
7. The Proposed Developed Shooting Area in the Section 26 location lies on a
dangerous corner that includes a five-way intersection including State Highway 14 and County
Roads 90 and 57. Numerous fatalities have occurred at this corner in the past several years.
Given the vast expanse of other available Forest Service land, our clients believe that this
dangerous location is ill-advised.
8. The Proposed Developed Shooting Area in Section 34 is on County Road 88 less
than two miles from where a recreational shooter was involved in a fatal car accident just within
the last few years. It is common for 50 to 100 semi trucks a day to use County Roads 88 and 57
and to drive past the Proposed Developed Shooting Areas to access the oil fields located
immediately south and adjacent to Section 34. The Proposed Developed Shooting Area locations
will increase the unacceptable risk of fatal accidents for my clients and the general public on
roads that were never designed to accommodate this amount of traffic.
9. We understand that packages of most rifle cartridges, even as small as 22 caliber
cartridges, contain warnings that the range of their projectiles is 2 miles. With ricochet these
bullets, and certainly bullets of larger calibers, can and do travel even farther. The prospect of
inadvertent casualties related to Proposed Developed Shooting Areas this close to our clients'
residences is not tolerable.
10. Our clients run cattle on their private properties or leased properties immediately
adjacent to both Proposed Developed Shooting Areas. There are and will be windmills, gates,
farm roads, cattle and their attendants less than a mile from the Proposed Developed Shooting
Areas. The Proposed Developed Shooting Areas will create unacceptable danger to all of these
structures, animals and people.
Lori A. Bell, District Ranger
Re: Pawnee National Grasslands Shooting Ranges
October 4, 2010
Page 4
11. Our clients are concerned about insurance requirements and responsibility for any
harm that comes to their property, themselves, their families or their guests. They want to know
whether the U.S. Forest Service provides insurance that protects adjacent property owners from
harm in the event that permitted shooters cause personal injury or property damage.
12. Our clients use these residences as their "quiet getaways" next to Forest Service
land and as commercial ranch operations. They have invested substantial funds to design, build
and maintain their properties and use them to invite and entertain children, grandchildren, nieces,
nephews and other related or unrelated individuals. Our clients also use their properties to
produce income in the community. The prospect of 8-10 shooting positions adjacent to their
homes and ranches, open seven days a week from dawn to dusk, creates an atmosphere of fear
and danger to the owners and their guests that is unnecessary given the vast area in which the
Forest Service could place these Proposed Developed Shooting Areas.
13. Our clients believe that placing the Proposed Developed Shooting Areas so close
to their residences will have a substantial negative effect on the value of their properties and
other private properties immediately adjacent to both Proposed Developed Shooting Areas.
14. Your letter suggests that you will be constructing an access road, an informational
kiosk, benches, shade cover and a bermed shooting area. Our clients would very much like to
see the actual plan for construction. The plan for construction should include barrier
landscaping, something to protect our clients from errant bullets, and should have other suitable
components, including trash receptacles and bathroom facilities. Our clients believe that the
plans also should include descriptions and indefinite funding to maintain these facilities.
15. In view of the fact the Proposed Developed Shooting Areas will be unstaffed, our
clients want like to know the plan for maintaining and cleaning the areas, and policing improper
uses, such as after-hours shooting, parties, drinking and anything else that might intensify the
already unacceptable level of danger such areas will present to the adjacent residences.
16. Our clients also would like information from you about the experience and
locations of other Shooting Areas in the Pawnee National Grassland and other Forest Service
lands in Colorado. In particular, we are interested to know whether there have been accidents
and/or injuries caused at those locations, police activity, citations issued by the Forest Service or
other law enforcement authorities, and whether there are any other shooting areas as close to
residences as the ones proposed.
We hope that you will take our clients' objections, comments and questions seriously and rethink
the current locations of the Proposed Developed Shooting Areas. While our clients do not object
generally to the concept of controlled Shooting Areas on the vast uninhabited areas of the
Pawnee National Grasslands, they object vigorously to placing the Proposed Developed Shooting
Areas near their residences and other private properties. They intend to pursue all avenues
available to them to oppose the Proposed Developed Shooting Areas
Lori A. Bell, District Ranger
Re: Pawnee National Grasslands Shooting Ranges
October 4, 2010
Page 5
Please respond as soon as you can and post these comments on the Forest Service website, as
indicated in your letter.
Very truly yours,
LOHF SHAIMAN ACOBS HYMAN & FEIGER PC
Charles H. Jacob
CHJ:slf
Enclosures
cc: Clients
Addressees on following Distribution List
Lori A. Bell, District Ranger
Re: Pawnee National Grasslands Shooting Ranges
October 4, 2010
Page 6
DISTRIBUTION LIST
By First Class Mail
Weld County Board of County Commissioners
915 Tenth Street
P.O. Box 80632
Greeley, CO 80632
Governor Bill Ritter, Jr.
136 State Capitol
Denver, CO 80203-1792
Senator Michael Bennett
1200 S. College Avenue, Ste. 211
Fort Collins, CO 80524
Senator Mark Udall
801 8th Street, Ste. 140A
Greeley, CO 80631
Congresswoman Betsy Markey
822 7th Street, #9
Greeley, CO 80631
By Email
Commissioner David Long, dlong@co.weld.co.us
Commissioner Douglas Rademacher, drademacher@co.weld.co.us
Commissioner Barbara Kirkmeyer, bkirkmever@co.weld.co.us
Commissioner Sean Conway, sconway@co.weld.co.us
Commissioner William "Bill" Garcia, wgarcia@co.weld.co.us
Senator Mitchell Shawn, shawnmitch@aol.com
Senator Scott Renfroe, scott.renfroe.senate@state.co.us
Representative B.J. Nikkei, rep.nikkel@gmail.com
Representative Dianne Primavera, dianne.primavera.house@state.co.us
Representative Jim Riesberg, iim.riesberg.house@state.co.us
Representative Jerry Sonnenberg, ferry.sonnenberg.house@state.co.us
Representative Glenn Vaad, glenn.vaad.house@state.co.us
•
Forest Pawnee 660"0"Street
Ueparted States ent of Service National Grassland Greeley,CO 80631
USDA Depart Voice: (970)346-5000 TOD: (970)346-5015 -
_�— Agriculture Web: www rs u .
Fax: (970)346-5014
September 7, 2010
Pear Interested Party,
The Pawnee National Grassland of the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests and Pawnee
National Grassland is proposing a developed recreational shooting area on National Forest
System lands between Ault and Briggsdale,Cob.,north of Colorado State Highway 14. The
proposed project area is approximately three acres. (see map)
Over recent years,the Pawnee National Grassland has seen an increase in recreational shooting
as the population on the Colorado Front Range grows. Currently,recreational shooting takes
place throughout the Grassland,with only a few small areas restricted. Construction of this
proposed shooting area would provide the opportunity for a safe shooting environment that could
be more\easily monitored and maintained. e te would e •
Thee public
is for a 100 wed range with ek from dawntght to ten shooting positions.until dusk. The area would ncludeian access road en
t e seven days
and parking lot,berated shooting area,informational kiosk,benches,and shade cover,if
constructed as proposed.
The environmental and social effects of this proposed action will be analyzed.Public comment
and collaboration, as well as input from U.S.Forest Service specialists, send sed to codttoanfarrther
develop and refine the proposal. To provide input on this proposal,please fully
Lori Bell at the address on this letterhead,or email to labell_ �°f_ To be by considered
in
the project analysis and to keep the planning process on schedule,please
respond
2010. As information becomes available, it will be posted online at www fs•usda•gov/ern.
Sincerely,
LORI A. BELL
District Ranger
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WELD COUNTY ZONING ORDINANCE
Sec. 23-4-370.Outdoor shooting ranges.
A. A Special Review Permit to operate an outdoor shooting range, if approved, shall be conditioned on a
requirement that every ten (10)years the safety of the design of the range shall be reviewed and changed,
taking into account the history of the operation and changes in surrounding land uses and the relevant
provisions of Subsections B.2, C.2 through C.6 and D below. Review of the safety plan shall be
accomplished using the Site Plan Review process and such changes shall not constitute a major change
from the Special Review Permit. The Department of Planning Services may waive the review if the
surrounding property within one-half(%) mile has not significantly changed since the recording date of
the original application. The applicant shall provide evidence for this determination. The operator, if he or
she chooses not to accept the staff determination under the Site Plan Review process, may request that the
matter be determined by the Board of County Commissioners which shall hear the matter in accordance
with the procedures for considering a Special Review Permit; provided, however, that no fee shall be
charged.
B. Application for a Special Review Permit to operate an outdoor shooting range shall be
accompanied by the following information:
I. Topography at two-foot intervals.
2. Plan of range with supporting data on safety factors.
C. The following minimum standards shall apply to all outdoor shooting ranges:
I. Minimum land requirements shall be set by the Planning Commission for each application.
2. Shooting ranges shall, when possible, be located to take advantage of natural terrain barriers.
The entire range (including danger area if range is not of the "Safety Range" type) shall be fenced and
warning signs posted every two hundred(200)feet.
3. Line of fire shall be as nearly horizontal as is practicable and never below horizontal. Ranges
may be constructed so that the firing point is below the target, provided that the gradient between the
firing point and target does not exceed two percent(2%).
4. The perimeter of the range shall be LANDSCAPED to provide natural noise barriers. The
remainder of the range shall be planted and maintained with grass or other suitable ground cover.
5. If the shooting range is used by more than four(4)individuals on a regular basis, shooting shall
be supervised by a range officer or instructor qualified by the National Rifle Association, military service
or other similar training.
6. In addition to firing lines or fields, adequate space for danger areas, parking, equipment,
storage building, clubhouse and latrines shall be provided.
D. Provisions for pistol, small-bore and high caliber rifle ranges:
I. "Safety Range" requirement. If the range is constructed in an urbanized area, when area is
developed, or when natural terrain does not offer adequate protection, overhead safety baffles may be
required.
2. Firing points shall be four (4) to five (5) feet apart for shooting distances up to two hundred
(200)yards.
3. Rifle or pistol ranges shall not be permitted without bullet stops. Natural or artificial bullet
stops shall be provided.
a. Natural bullet stops. Only slopes of hills shall be used for natural bullet stops. The crest
of the hill used for a bullet stop shall be at least thirty (30) feet above the level of the firing point
for a one-hundred-yard range. An additional ten (10) feet of hill shall be provided for each
additional one hundred (100)yards of range. The slope of the hill shall not be less than two (2)to
one (1). A vertical cut shall be taken out of the face of the hillside used for a backstop to provide
a nearly perpendicular face to catch bullets and prevent ricochets.
b. Artificial bullet stops. For up to a three-hundred-yard range, an earth
embankment at least twenty-five (25) feet in height, well sodded to retain a slope of
thirty-five (35) degrees from perpendicular and topped by an earth-filled timber barricade
at least fifteen (15) feet high, shall be provided. Stones shall be removed from the face of
the embankment to a depth of eighteen (18) inches. For each additional one hundred
(100) yards of range, ten (10) feet in overall height of the bullet stop shall be added. The
bullet stop shall extend approximately one hundred sixty (160) feet beyond the ends of
the target line for high-caliber ranges; and twenty-five (25) feet for small-bore rifle and
pistol ranges.
E. Provisions for trap and skeet fields.
1. A danger zone of one hundred (100) yards by three hundred (300) yards shall be provided for
trap fields.
2. A danger zone of three hundred (300) yards by six hundred (600) yards shall be provided for
skeet fields.
3. Trap and skeet fields may be combined (traps layout superimposed on skeet field) where a
danger zone of three hundred(300)yards by six hundred (600)yards shall be required.
4. The trap field layout shall meet the requirements of the American Trap Association.
5. The skeet field layout shall meet the requirements of the National Skeet Shooting Association.
(Weld County Codification Ordinance 2000-1; Weld County Code Ordinance 2003-10)
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