SIMI VALLEY : New Shooting Range OKd by Commission

After years of searching for a safe, remote spot for police and gun enthusiasts to practice shooting, the Simi Valley Planning Commission said Shooter’s Paradise has hit the mark.

The commission approved on Wednesday night the Oxnard-based company’s plan to open a 10,000-square-foot indoor firing range in an industrial section of west Simi Valley.

“It’s really been a long time coming,” said Commissioner Michael Piper, who had been part of an earlier effort to find an outdoor site for target practice. “I’m looking forward to seeing this get off the ground.”

The proposed shooting gallery received the unanimous support of the commissioners, after they settled minor concerns about where the business would store trash and how it would light its parking lot.

“These issues are really peanuts,” Piper said. “The lighting has to do with safety, but I think the last place I’d want to cause trouble is a place where people have just come off a firing range, half of whom are police.”

The most serious concern for neighbors--the potential for noise--was quickly handled by representatives from Shooter’s Paradise.

The gun range would be encased in steel and would be virtually soundproof, said Steven Perlman, a company consultant.

Perlman said the range and retail store at 440 Easy St. would be clean and state-of-the-art.

Company officials said they hoped to open the center in December for use seven days a week, after the industrial building undergoes about $400,000 in renovations.

When it opens, city officials said they expected to save an estimated $25,000 a year in overtime and travel costs that it pays out to the Simi Valley Police Department. The department’s 110 officers currently practice in ranges in Ventura and Camarillo.