PORT TOWNSEND — Jefferson County commissioners are expected to make a final decision on a proposed no-shooting zone for the Greater Jolie Way and Silver Berry Place area during a public hearing today.
Commissioners will consider approving the zone after a hearing at 10:30 a.m. following the weekly COVID-19 update from Dr. Allison Berry, public health officer for Jefferson and Clallam counties.
The meeting, which begins at 9 a.m. with a public comment period and a consent agenda, can be followed live at www.co.jefferson.wa.us by clicking links under “Quick Links: Videos of Meetings-Streaming Live.”
To join the meeting online, go to https://zoom.us/j/93777841705. To listen only, call 1-253-215-8782 and enter access code 937-7784-1705#.
Recordings of past meetings can be found by following links at https://www.co.jefferson.wa.us/129/Agendas-Minutes.
Petition
A petition was received on June 14 to ban shooting in the area east of Hastings Avenue and north of Cape George Road in Precinct 1201.
On July 5, the county sent out notices to neighbors and to Point No Point and Point Elliott tribes so that they could weigh in.
State law requires a no-shooting area be limited to an area where there is a reasonable likelihood that humans, domestic animals or property are jeopardized.
The petition listed several unsafe situations involving guns that had been seen in the past two years, such as target shooting on a property line with guns aimed into a person’s yard, random shooting that occurs at all hours and drunken parties with multiple guns fired.
Such incidences have posed a threat not only to people and families but to animals and property as well, they said.
The letter also stipulated that these residents are not “anti-gun,” that many of them were gun owners themselves, and there is a growing concern over gun safety in the neighborhood.
A map is available at https://media.avcaptureall.cloud/meeting/7c545704-8ac8-4122-9449-111590420acf.
People can send public comments to jeffbocc@co.jefferson.wa.us.
Other areas of East Jefferson County have been designated no-shoot areas. These include Kala Point, Port Ludlow, Ocean Grove and Cape George.
