SIMI VALLEY : Council to Listen to Gun Range Tests

Bowing to pressure from residents opposed to an outdoor shooting range, the Simi Valley City Council decided to go to the Indian Hills subdivision to listen to noise tests before making a decision on the proposal.

About 100 people either spoke against the shooting range or filed written complaints during a two-hour hearing Monday night. “We do support our Police Department,” resident Eileen Gordon said. “However, it’s not appropriate to locate this shooting range in close proximity to a residential area.”

The subdivision is located about half a mile from the proposed site for the gun range that would be constructed on a portion of the Las Llajas Dam retention basin northeast of the city. More than 300 of Gordon’s neighbors signed a petition opposing the range, primarily because of the noise they fear it would create in their neighborhood.

But about two dozen other residents expressed support for the police firing range. They said it could save the city as much as $50,000 a year in overtime pay and travel expenses for officers who practice at a gun range in Camarillo.

Officials said the new range would cost about $65,000 to develop on the county property and about $1,000 a year for use of the land.

The council members agreed to go to the Indian Hills subdivision Feb. 22 to hear the shooting tests for themselves.

“Lots of things are clearly audible but not necessarily disturbing,” Mayor Greg Stratton said. “So we’re all going to listen to it and see what we think.”

Councilman Bill Davis, who lives in Indian Hills, said Tuesday he heard the initial noise tests and did not find the gunfire disturbing. He said he will support building the shooting range.