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Herriman • The city is closing its sights on a gun range location that may be chosen by the end of next month.
The gun range proposal picked up from where it left off in December after residents expressed concerns about the close proximity to homes in the area and noise impact. In the meantime, the city has narrowed more than 20 locations down to three, including the original proposed location, and presented them to residents on Thursday.
Hank Howell, a resident and gun owner, asked during the comment period why a range that "threatens the quality of life" of residents living nearby is such a priority right now. He also said the range isn't what a new homeowner wants.
"If I was looking for a home and I could hear the sound of 50-plus guns being shot in the evening, that would be a huge deterrent," he said.
Carey Palmer said he was glad the city was moving forward with what he called a "dramatic need" in the city.
"I will be the first one to buy a home by a gun range, because I enjoy shooting guns," Palmer said.
A room full of residents, mostly from the closely affected Juniper Point subdivision, repeated their concerns at the Herriman City Council meeting about property value loss, zoning restrictions, safety, the cost for taxpayers and government transparency on the issue.
The City Council has searched several months for a location for the gun range. About two years ago, the idea of a gun range was talked about, but plans never solidified; last year, the effort picked up again.
Some council members feel the discussion, comment and analyzing have gone on far too long.
"We have really noodled with this for a long time," Councilman Mike Day said after the public comment period, commenting that a gun range utopia doesn't exist.
Day proposed the city make a decision on the location of the gun range at the council's Feb. 28 work meeting.
Kenny Thomas raised concerns about how the city brought up the gun range and criticized the council for not involving the public until a location had been selected. He said such actions make residents lose trust in their civic leaders.
The three proposed sites presented by City Assistant Manager Gordon Haight all have the same chance for making money and are all on private land south of the city and west of the Mountain View Corridor. Two are adjacent to Camp Williams, however, and the land is owned by people who aren't willing to sell to the city.
The area with the least drawbacks and lowest cost to build is the city's initial proposal near 4300 West and 15300 South.
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O See a map of the proposed gun range sites: bit.ly/SK0g4A