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SAN GABRIEL GUN CLUB CLOSURE -- kuethen-ONS -- 30nov05
San Gabriel Gun Club could close next May
By ANNE KUETHEN Outdoor News Service
Mum's the word on the potential closing of an Azusa community fixture, the San Gabriel Valley Gun Club. The club has served Southern California shooters for nearly six decades and is frequented by close to 100,000 people per year. Now, due to a series of actions taken by the City of Azusa and Vulcan Materials of Azusa, a mining company that leases part of its lands to the club, the shooting range is slated for closing next May, ending its 58-year tenure on the property.
Maybe.
The first mention of the club's possible closing came at an Azusa City Council meeting in November, 2004. The city proposed a rezoning project that would declare the land the club operates on as "open space." The purpose of open space, as defined by the City of Azusa, is "to protect important natural resources by limited building within the mountains, foothills and river channels."
Xavier Hermosillo, a spokesman for the club, said they were not notified until late in the legal process that they would be displaced by the rezoning.
Keith Hanks was a member of the planning commission at the time of the rezoning proposal. Hanks said the commission, which was in charge of preparing the initial proposal, had no plans to redesignate the club's land. It was the city council, he says, that redefined the club's use of the land as "non-conforming."
Hanks has been a supporter of the club from the beginning of its battle with the city. In fact, Hermosillo and gun club supporters played a large part in getting him elected to the city council in March of this year.
"It's a shame if the gun club closes," he says, "I'd like to think of some way to keep it open."
Despite the city's actions to shut down the club, Hermosillo and the club owner Rick Tretter were not going to go down without a fight. They enlisted the assistance of the California Rifle and Pistol Association and had planned to launch litigation against the city, citing various illegal missteps that led to the Council's conclusion to rezone the land.
Prominent among those missteps, according to Hermosillo is that club operators were not properly notified about the proposed rezoning until well into November, 2004 when the planning was in the advanced stages. Hermosillo said the club could not take proper action, a violation of their rights. In fact, he says, at the city council meeting at which he and other club supporters were allowed to voice their opinions and ask questions about the closing, they were shut down. Christina Madrid, who was then mayor, informed Hermosillo that they were allowed to speak under the public participation portion of the agenda but that their comments would not formally be considered as public testimony.
The club's battle with the city was stopped short last May when Vulcan Materials, part owner of the club's land, communicated their desire to terminate the club's lease and served them an eviction notice. Vulcan is a leading producer of construction aggregates and operates in the same area. Vulcan currently owns 30 percent of the land where the club operates, and it holds all the chips in this situation because the company has an 80-year right to dig in that area, a contract that extends until 2039. This allows them to continue to operate despite Azusa politicians desire for open space in that vicinity.
Vulcan's decision was terrible news to the club because it only owns 20 percent of the land it where it operates (with the largest portion -- 50 percent -- being owned by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers). City officials, including Hanks, have washed their hands of the mess, saying the issue was now a, "private matter between the gun club and Vulcan."
There is some suspicion on the behalf of Hermosillo and others, that Vulcan was gently prodded to terminate the club's lease. John Mustafa of the California Rifle and Pistol Association thinks the City has been encouraging Vulcan to renege on the lease. The notion may not be too far fetched because the city has leverage over Vulcan at this time. In the very near future, Vulcan will be submitting and application for a conditional use permit to add 80 acres to their digging, which would have to be approved by the city.
Mustafa cites this as a definite opportunity for the Azusa politicians to blackmail Vulcan into terminating the club's lease. While he admits he hasn't been able to pin down concrete evidence, there's plenty of smoke. City and Vulcan representatives have been in extensive communication. When Mustafa went to examine official city records concerning the club, a box of internal memos was conspicuously left out for him to see, which indicated communication between Azusa Mayor Diane Chagnon and Steve Coutler, an executive for Vulcan Materials. Chagnon, however, denies any communication with Vulcan about the gun club or any issues regarding it.
What is still unclear is why the politicians unmistakably want the club out of Azusa. Mustafa presumes that the city is concerned with the stigma attached to a community that houses a large shooting range. He admits though, it is a bit peculiar that the generally conservative area of Azusa would be terribly concerned with being struck with such a stigma.
Hermosillo is not so diplomatic calling the City's efforts, "a NIMBY, not-in-my-back-yard mentality."
"The city has an anti-anything productive attitude with an almost socialist view on life," said Hermosillo. He also alleges that former city manager for Azusa, Rick Cole, has an anti-gun bias and spearheaded the rezoning of the club. Hermosillo also believes that Cole is working to try to close another gun club in Ventura where he is now the city manager. Cole could not be reached for comment and did not return calls.
Despite Hermosillo's allegations, the city might have been listening to the voice of some its constituents, particularly those of the Mountain Cove residential community, where some residents said they were angered by the noise from the club's ranges. The club sees this as an unsubstantiated claim since it has never received a noise complaint and has done its best to reduce noise on its own, using baffles, screening, trees, and burms. To investigate, the club commissioned a noise study of the area and found that the sounds from the range could be placed on the same level as popping popcorn. Furthermore, the study found that the sounds of shooting at the club ranges was usually covered by the sound of cars, motorcycles, lawnmowers, and other normal neighborhood sounds.
Should the few Mountain Cove residents and local politicians get their wish and the club close in May, a large void would be left for Southern California shooters. The 58-year-old club is one of only 38 remaining outdoor ranges in the southern half of the state, and the nearest range for most Orange County and Los Angeles basin shooters.
"It is one of the oldest, largest, most versatile operations in Southern California," according to Hermosillo. On its 65 acres, there are ranges for pistols, rifles, and shotguns, including skeet, combat, and moving target ranges. The club is a practice facility not only for regular citizens, but also many law enforcement and military organizations. Patrons include officials from Homeland Security, Coast Guard, FBI, Bureau of Prisons, local police, CHP, City of Arcadia SWAT and even Los Angeles Zoo personnel.
With such widespread professional use, the club surely has a viable function, according to Hermosillo. "The business does not only exist to provide training for many first responders, but also to provide access for the public to exercise their Second amendment rights," said Hermosillo.
Hermosillo is still hopeful and club supporters are confident that despite what appears to be the club's eminent closing, that it will remain operational. If Vulcan truly intends to deny renewal of the lease, one option is for the club to resituate itself on the land leftover. As it stands, shooters currently fire mostly northward but if they are forced to move, they would resituate the range on the easterly part of the land they lease from the U.S Army Corps. This would cause shooters to fire to the east, ironically causing more noise for residents in the area. Hanks, however sees this situation as unlikely: "I am not optimistic that they could do that."
Optimistic or not, this issue is far from settled.
San Gabriel Gun Club could close next May
By ANNE KUETHEN Outdoor News Service
Mum's the word on the potential closing of an Azusa community fixture, the San Gabriel Valley Gun Club. The club has served Southern California shooters for nearly six decades and is frequented by close to 100,000 people per year. Now, due to a series of actions taken by the City of Azusa and Vulcan Materials of Azusa, a mining company that leases part of its lands to the club, the shooting range is slated for closing next May, ending its 58-year tenure on the property.
Maybe.
The first mention of the club's possible closing came at an Azusa City Council meeting in November, 2004. The city proposed a rezoning project that would declare the land the club operates on as "open space." The purpose of open space, as defined by the City of Azusa, is "to protect important natural resources by limited building within the mountains, foothills and river channels."
Xavier Hermosillo, a spokesman for the club, said they were not notified until late in the legal process that they would be displaced by the rezoning.
Keith Hanks was a member of the planning commission at the time of the rezoning proposal. Hanks said the commission, which was in charge of preparing the initial proposal, had no plans to redesignate the club's land. It was the city council, he says, that redefined the club's use of the land as "non-conforming."
Hanks has been a supporter of the club from the beginning of its battle with the city. In fact, Hermosillo and gun club supporters played a large part in getting him elected to the city council in March of this year.
"It's a shame if the gun club closes," he says, "I'd like to think of some way to keep it open."
Despite the city's actions to shut down the club, Hermosillo and the club owner Rick Tretter were not going to go down without a fight. They enlisted the assistance of the California Rifle and Pistol Association and had planned to launch litigation against the city, citing various illegal missteps that led to the Council's conclusion to rezone the land.
Prominent among those missteps, according to Hermosillo is that club operators were not properly notified about the proposed rezoning until well into November, 2004 when the planning was in the advanced stages. Hermosillo said the club could not take proper action, a violation of their rights. In fact, he says, at the city council meeting at which he and other club supporters were allowed to voice their opinions and ask questions about the closing, they were shut down. Christina Madrid, who was then mayor, informed Hermosillo that they were allowed to speak under the public participation portion of the agenda but that their comments would not formally be considered as public testimony.
The club's battle with the city was stopped short last May when Vulcan Materials, part owner of the club's land, communicated their desire to terminate the club's lease and served them an eviction notice. Vulcan is a leading producer of construction aggregates and operates in the same area. Vulcan currently owns 30 percent of the land where the club operates, and it holds all the chips in this situation because the company has an 80-year right to dig in that area, a contract that extends until 2039. This allows them to continue to operate despite Azusa politicians desire for open space in that vicinity.
Vulcan's decision was terrible news to the club because it only owns 20 percent of the land it where it operates (with the largest portion -- 50 percent -- being owned by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers). City officials, including Hanks, have washed their hands of the mess, saying the issue was now a, "private matter between the gun club and Vulcan."
There is some suspicion on the behalf of Hermosillo and others, that Vulcan was gently prodded to terminate the club's lease. John Mustafa of the California Rifle and Pistol Association thinks the City has been encouraging Vulcan to renege on the lease. The notion may not be too far fetched because the city has leverage over Vulcan at this time. In the very near future, Vulcan will be submitting and application for a conditional use permit to add 80 acres to their digging, which would have to be approved by the city.
Mustafa cites this as a definite opportunity for the Azusa politicians to blackmail Vulcan into terminating the club's lease. While he admits he hasn't been able to pin down concrete evidence, there's plenty of smoke. City and Vulcan representatives have been in extensive communication. When Mustafa went to examine official city records concerning the club, a box of internal memos was conspicuously left out for him to see, which indicated communication between Azusa Mayor Diane Chagnon and Steve Coutler, an executive for Vulcan Materials. Chagnon, however, denies any communication with Vulcan about the gun club or any issues regarding it.
What is still unclear is why the politicians unmistakably want the club out of Azusa. Mustafa presumes that the city is concerned with the stigma attached to a community that houses a large shooting range. He admits though, it is a bit peculiar that the generally conservative area of Azusa would be terribly concerned with being struck with such a stigma.
Hermosillo is not so diplomatic calling the City's efforts, "a NIMBY, not-in-my-back-yard mentality."
"The city has an anti-anything productive attitude with an almost socialist view on life," said Hermosillo. He also alleges that former city manager for Azusa, Rick Cole, has an anti-gun bias and spearheaded the rezoning of the club. Hermosillo also believes that Cole is working to try to close another gun club in Ventura where he is now the city manager. Cole could not be reached for comment and did not return calls.
Despite Hermosillo's allegations, the city might have been listening to the voice of some its constituents, particularly those of the Mountain Cove residential community, where some residents said they were angered by the noise from the club's ranges. The club sees this as an unsubstantiated claim since it has never received a noise complaint and has done its best to reduce noise on its own, using baffles, screening, trees, and burms. To investigate, the club commissioned a noise study of the area and found that the sounds from the range could be placed on the same level as popping popcorn. Furthermore, the study found that the sounds of shooting at the club ranges was usually covered by the sound of cars, motorcycles, lawnmowers, and other normal neighborhood sounds.
Should the few Mountain Cove residents and local politicians get their wish and the club close in May, a large void would be left for Southern California shooters. The 58-year-old club is one of only 38 remaining outdoor ranges in the southern half of the state, and the nearest range for most Orange County and Los Angeles basin shooters.
"It is one of the oldest, largest, most versatile operations in Southern California," according to Hermosillo. On its 65 acres, there are ranges for pistols, rifles, and shotguns, including skeet, combat, and moving target ranges. The club is a practice facility not only for regular citizens, but also many law enforcement and military organizations. Patrons include officials from Homeland Security, Coast Guard, FBI, Bureau of Prisons, local police, CHP, City of Arcadia SWAT and even Los Angeles Zoo personnel.
With such widespread professional use, the club surely has a viable function, according to Hermosillo. "The business does not only exist to provide training for many first responders, but also to provide access for the public to exercise their Second amendment rights," said Hermosillo.
Hermosillo is still hopeful and club supporters are confident that despite what appears to be the club's eminent closing, that it will remain operational. If Vulcan truly intends to deny renewal of the lease, one option is for the club to resituate itself on the land leftover. As it stands, shooters currently fire mostly northward but if they are forced to move, they would resituate the range on the easterly part of the land they lease from the U.S Army Corps. This would cause shooters to fire to the east, ironically causing more noise for residents in the area. Hanks, however sees this situation as unlikely: "I am not optimistic that they could do that."
Optimistic or not, this issue is far from settled.
