Shooting Range to Get Further Study

A decision on what to do with the city’s shooting range is on hold while officials seek more information on the options.

At a recent study session, City Council members said they would prefer building a new indoor range rather than reopen the now-closed outdoor range that had operated in Central Park since 1968. The council shut that down Jan. 4, citing safety and noise concerns.

Council members said they also want to operate a new range in conjunction with Golden West College, which needs such a facility for its criminal justice students.

Though the city has to pay now for its police officers to get firearms training elsewhere, Councilwoman Shirley S. Dettloff said, the council won’t rush into a new range for Huntington Beach.

“It’s a very costly venture,” she said.

The council also asked staff members about the possibility of making arrangements with Orange County to clean up a 12-acre site at Gothard Street and Talbert Avenue, where garbage trucks used to transfer their loads, and to build a range there.

Community Services Director Ron Hagan said the county has offered to give Huntington Beach the property, but only if the city pays the millions of dollars needed for the cleanup.

Hagan said his staff will not be able to gather all the necessary information and schedule a time to present it to the council until late May or early June.

--BY DEBRA CANO, JOHN POPE AND STEVE CARNEY