Kitsap County range threatened by property transfer

JumpWing · Mar 14, 2009

Howdy, folks. I'm a member of KRRC (Kitsap Rifle & Revolver Club) and they recently sent out a letter that outlines the impending transfer of the range property ownership from Washington DNR (Dept Natural Resources) to Kitsap County Parks. Some groups appear to be already organizing in an effort to squeeze out the range and turn the land over for their own preferred recreations.

Kitsap County is willing to pay lip service with a vague verbal agreement that would allow KRRC to keep the land to the end of the current lease. I think we're all familiar with the government's track record for keeping its word; and this is more than enough reason to ask for these provisions in writing.

For those of you who live in the area--even if you don't visit the range--this is an opportunity to DO SOMETHING rather than simply complain online about eroding rights. Please show up if you can!

Dear Members and Supporters of KRRC,
We just recently received news that a proposed transfer of ownership of the land our ranges sit on from the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to the Kitsap County Parks and Recreation is moving VERY fast!

Club representatives met recently with KC Parks Director Chip Faver, who would become our new landlord, and members of DNR to get informed on the process. There are many practical reasons for the land transfer, however, your Executive Committee has some very serious concerns based on a lot of information we have received, including having folks very much apart of the Parks planning process telling others that the range is being shut down!!!

We have proposed to purchase the land we set on, once County becomes the landowner, or at a minimum, provide use with a 15 year lease contract so that we can apply for the next grant cycle to drill a well, put in septic and a first class restrooms. We were told that a contract was not possible until after the transfer was complete. We were told that Parks will honor the current lease, which has approximately 9 years left on it. It seems that perhaps a letter of intent is the best we can hope for (which has 0.0 legal standing).

Due to being left out of the discussions, we have been behind the curve on this. Several Club members have been working tirelessly to get us up to speed. We are hoping to make a formal proposal, generally in the form presented below, to Commissioner Brown prior to the Wednesday hearing.

We want a contract! Words don't cut it. We have recently been told about a specific case where KC Parks took over other property and promised to honor the terms of a lease, and yet cancelled the lease with 5.5 years left on it.

Call EVERYONE you know, co-workers, family members, friends and etc. We need everyone we can get to show up in support of the KRRC ranges. The media will be there. One mountain bike group that wants our property, will be there in force. WE NEED 1000+ people showing up! Let's show up with enough numbers that they must get a larger venue to finish the meeting!

Next Wednesday, March 18th starting at 6pm. (be early if possible!)
Board of County Commissioners Chambers
County Administration Building
614 Division Street
Port Orchard, WA 98366

You can go to the KRRC home page and open a copy of the notice with a map of the land exchange area. We are on "S-2"

Be there! Bring your friends! Dress and act as the classy individuals you all are! Be polite!
Please take the time to shoot back an email with the number of folks that you believe you can muster to the hearing. We are printing up signs in support of succuring our ranges.
WE NEED YOU NOW!!!
--
Marcus Carter - Executive Officer
Kitsap Rifle & Revolver Club
4900 Seabeck Hwy. N.W.
Bremerton, Washington 98312
USA
For Sport and National Defense
http://www.GunSafety.org
Range Phone - 360.373.1007

JumpWing · Mar 14, 2009

This is the proposal being put before the board... (part 1)

INTRODUCTION
Kitsap Rifle and Revolver Club (KRRC) operates a gun club and a series of firing ranges located at 4900 Seabeck Highway, Bremerton, Kitsap County, Washington, on land that is currently leased from the Department of Natural Resources of the State of Washington (DNR). Although the gun club has a long history of operating in its current location, it has never been able to purchase the property where it is located because of certain covenants relating to the fact that the property has been part of the School Trust Lands. Very recently, KRRC was informed that the DNR was in the process of conducting a land exchange with Kitsap County which involved the KRRCs leased property. When the land exchange is completed, it is understood that KRRCs leased lands will become the property of Kitsap County Parks and Recreation. When the leased land becomes Kitsap County land, no longer School Trust Land , sale of the land to KRRC becomes possible. For the reasons set forth below, it is in the best interests of the Kitsap County community that the sale of the land to KRRC be considered and approved.

CURRENT FACILITY
The Kitsap Rifle and Revolver Club was formally organized on November 11, 1926 to provide a safe environment for the shooting. KRRC offers a wide variety of activities for the community. The Club is a 501 (c) 7 non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the shooting sports as well as the necessary knowledge to safely and proficiently handle firearms in times of personal, community, state and national defense.

Our ranges currently sit on 72 acres of land leased from the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR). It features lighted, covered pistol lines and rifle lines, and a number of 180, 270, and 360 degree shooting bays which can be configured for a variety of purposes.

As currently configured, the facility currently serves many segments of the Kitsap County community, including: (a) annually 1200 active members; (b) over 10,000 individual guests and visitors. KRRC also supports training for the U.S. Military, Homeland Security, Kitsap County Sheriffs Office, and local police departments. Group trainings for governmental groups are a significant part of KRRC activities. Many of our members, officers and instructors are veterans of the Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard. KRRC maintains certification as a military small-arms training range. Homeland Security starts at home and Kitsap County , being a naval town, has a long, rich heritage of supporting all aspects of Navy life from firearms training for family members to supplemental qualification training. Equally important are our group classes, a portion of which include: Personal Protection I & II, Hunter Education, and Range Officer Training, and individual training. Safety and responsibility are the primary themes of all of our classes.

The Kitsap Rifle and Revolver Club features a variety of competitive events on a weekly, monthly and annual basis. Some of the regular events we host include: (a) USPSA (United States Practical Shooting Association) pistol shooting tournaments; (b) Fun Steel (entry level handgun matches); (c) Bullseye (one-handed test of pistol marksmanship); Annual Courage Classic Charity Match (two-day, 3 gun match with law enforcement, civilian and military teams); (d) GSSF (Glock Shooting Sports Foundation), Northwestern Regional competition; (e) High Power Service Rifle; (f) Junior Small Bore (Olympic style and NCAA college-level style shooting), to just name a few.

KRRC is supported in the local community. KRRCs neighbors (adjacent property owners) even if they are not actual members of the club do support the club. For example, one of our neighbors recently called to tell us that he was very upset when someone representing themselves as being with the KC Parks told him that the gun club is going to be shutdown. He called to warn us about the threat to our lease. Neighbors support the club because it is responsibly operated: (a) KRRC has reasonable hours that minimize the impact of noise in the community; (b) KRRC has an effective noise control system and is constantly striving to improve sound abatement; (c) KRRC has an active recycling and environmental stewardship program; (d) Safety is always of the highest priority at the Kitsap Rifle and Revolver Club. Each member must attend a five-hour club orientation and range safety briefing before being given access to the gate and the ability to shoot at the range self-supervised. Members of the public are given a fundamental safety briefing and are supervised by trained Range Officers when shooting at the Range.

KRRC has prepared a business plan with an eye to the future. The future business plan focuses on meeting the increased needs of the Kitsap County community to provide training opportunities for organizations that have requested additional services. For example, KRRC has been experiencing a marked increase in the number of public and private entities inquiring about range time. In addition, KRRC plans to develop a facility that will attract people from outside of the county, bringing dollars to be spent in Kitsap County . For example, one of the activities KRRC currently engages in has been looking for a facility to permanently host a national championship match. This one event will draw at least 500 competitors, many with families in tow; and with a contract from the Outdoor Life Network to televise these matches, Kitsap County would be televised throughout North America . These folks would fill hotel and motel rooms, restaurant seats, for nearly a week--and this is just one event! This is a realistic plan for KRRC and a number of our members have achieved national and international recognition for event support and participation.

THREATS TO THE CURRENT LEASE
Information that has recently come to the attention of KRRC which implies that its current lease is threatened. KRRC has been informed of illegal acts committed by other groups which appear to have been utilized to cast a bad light on KRRC. One group posted no horseback riding signs illegally on DNR land near KRRC leased land; this act may have had the effect of creating the impression that KRRC was not friendly to horseback riding. Most recently, a member of another group participated in an illegal trail construction on DNR land and KRRC leased land; that person represented themselves to representing Kitsap County Parks stated to KRRC members that KRRC needs to move. KRRC believes that these other groups, because of their own self-interests, have painted a one-sided picture of KRRC. KRRC has not been given a fair opportunity to respond in order to correct and complete the record.

The threats made to the current KRRC lease only exacerbate existing concerns:

(a) although shooting sports have a place on the national and international scene based on various types of shooting competitions(as shooting sports are in the Olympics), more recently the Parks and Recreation department of Kitsap County has failed to recognize the shooting sports as legitimate forms of recreation;

(b) changes in personnel at the County and State level will change how KRRC is viewed (one administration may support KRRC while another might not even be aware of our existence);

(c) Kitsap County Parks has refused to recognize KRRCs issues in any meaningful manner, despite the fact that there are more than a dozen specific shooting sports currently pursued in Kitsap County, with the most popular activity being general target practice;

(d) No public park facility has made any current or future provisions for adequate facilities for sport shooting, even though a significant number of people in the county own guns of various types and need a place to practice;

(e) The building of new or additional shooting ranges in nearby counties are losing battles, creating a greater need for this type of facility in the region;

(f) If there is no safe place available for the general public to practice shooting, KRRC believes that people will resort to less safe alternatives such as any open field, which is obviously undesirable.

JumpWing · Mar 14, 2009

and part 2...

GOALS AND BENEFITS OF THIS PROPOSAL

A sale of the leased acreage to KRRC is a win-win for all parties:

(a) For KRRC, the purchase eliminates the threat to permanence, which will motivate KRRC to complete its plans for a world-class recreational and training facility (without permanence assured, KRRC cannot justify the cost of permanent buildings or other large monetary investments to improve the property);

(b) KRRC will contribute private funds to Kitsap County by purchasing the property, and keep the property on the tax roles, which funds can be utilized to develop other areas in the community;

(c) KRRC will privately fund a world-class training facility that will attract visitors as a source of income to Kitsap and provide the Kitsap County Sheriffs Office with the opportunity for the first time to have a home without the expenses associated with construction and maintenance;

(d) KRRC will privately support all our military and law enforcement agencies by providing convenient training facilities;

(e) Kitsap County will receive the benefit that necessary buffer acreage will contribute to the Countys rural plan;

(f) A significant sporting activity for Kitsap County residents will have a reasonable share of the resources in Kitsap;

(g) Safety considerations regarding firearms will be professionally handled;

(h) KRRC will take on the responsibility for maintaining the land in rural condition;

(I) KRRC will relieve Kitsap County of liability for these lands.

PROPOSAL
In order to achieve the goals and ensure the support of our members and supporters for the land transfer, Kitsap County (Parks) and KRRC must enter into a written agreement where Kitsap County will extend to KRRC a 15-year lease based principally upon the terms of the current KRRC lease with DNR, without the "higher and better use" termination clause, with KRRC having at anytime during the lease period the sole option to purchase approximately 130 acres of land at our current location at the cost of $2,000 per acre (fair market value).

This proposal is the best option because it provides the means to achieve all goals stated above with the added benefit to the County of providing additional private funds to supplement the exchange and/or to develop the lands to be received.

CONCLUSION
KRRC expects to get community support for this proposal because of the important functions this facility serves. Our members, guests, family and friends are prepared to vocally support this win-win proposal for all involved. KRRC respectfully encourages Kitsap County to strongly consider and finalize this proposal by March 17, 2009 in order to garner enthusiastic support from our base and supporters. Short of a signed agreement, the KRRC Executive Committee cannot recommend support for the land transfer.