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Home My WebLink About2016 09-06 Maplewood neighbors cringe at ongoing gunshots from police range PIONEER PRESS9/20/2016 NEWS Maplewood neighbors cringe at ongoing gunshots from police range Maplewood neighbors cringe at ongoing gunshots from police range ICI e gates of' the Ilaa:ake fiiiHin irainge on I inwood Avenue in IMapI ea:aa: d on Sunday, Sept. SIG, 20.11.6. (IPP inee r IPiress Va�eide IR66e) http://www.twi nci ti es.com /2016/09/06/m apl ewood-nei ghbors-cri nge-at-ongoi ng -guns hots-from-pol i ce-range/ 1/4 9/20/2016 Maplewood neighbors cringe at ongoing gunshots from police range By IIE0IE &HAW I bshaw@pioneerpress.com PUBLISHED: September 6, 2016 at 7:00 am I UPDATED: September 4, 2016 at 4:43 pm Patrice Bailey's well-groomed home in southern Maplewood seems like an ideal place to live. Until the shooting begins. "It sounds like a battlefield," said Bailey, as he worked on landscaping chores late last month. The war -movie soundtrack blasts into his home from the next-door gun range, operated by the St. Paul Police Department. For up to a mile away, the poppity-pop-pop of gunfire annoys neighbors on most weekdays. But police have been using the range on Linwood Avenue since the 1950s, long before the neighborhood was built. They say they can't stop using it, because it's their only option for required outdoor shooting practice. That means that the long -simmering conflict will keep on bubbling, according to Maplewood Mayor Nora Slawik. Even though complaints have recently surged, and meetings with police have been cordial, she said there is no solution in sight. "The ultimate solution is to have the gun range move, and that is not really an option now," she said. When the range was built, police picked a spot on the eastern fringe of the developed metro area. Out in the boondocks, no one lived near enough to complain. That is also the reason, said Slawik, that Maplewood is home to another building that seems strangely out of place — the sprawling Ramsey County Correctional Facility, built decades ago on Century Avenue South. St. Paul Police signed a 99 -year lease for the use of the range in 1974. "Even then," said police spokesman Steve Linders, "there were no houses around there." Today, there are. Marc Anderson, who lives about a mile away, says when the noise bounces off apartments he can see his home's window glass waver. He doesn't understand why the city tolerates it. "What this means is that there is no such thing as a noise ordinance," Anderson said. http://www.twi nci ti es.com /2016/09/06/m apl ewood-nei ghbors-cri nge-at-ongoi ng -guns hots-from-pol i ce-range/ 2/4 9/20/2016 Maplewood neighbors cringe at ongoing gunshots from police range Sue Vento has lived half a mile away for 15 years. "I do not need an alarm clock. The guns are my alarm clock," she said. The guns can start firing at 7:30 a.m. on weekdays, and can last as late as 4:30 p.m. "We want there to be well-trained police. But we also want our rights respected," Vento said. Bill Dorgan, president of a 76 -unit homeowners association about two blocks away, has watched his grandkids jump in fear on his deck when they hear the gunshots. "It sounds threatening. It sounds disruptive. It sounds like something that shouldn't be there," said Dorgan. He said the range was originally used only for pistols. "Now we have to endure not only pistol noise, but AK -47 noise," Dorgan said. The community and the police have been talking for years, he said, without any progress. "They don't look like they are looking for a replacement. They look like they are digging in and doing what they can to stay there," Dorgan said. But police spokesman Linders said that police are required to get some gun training outdoors. The Maplewood range is the only outdoor range they have. Furthermore, the sound is diminishing, he said. Police built a sound -reducing wall on the west side of the range in 2013 and added a partially enclosed area to cut the noise. Last year they added a wall on the east side. Police will open up a new 12 -lane indoor range in St. Paul next year, Linders said. That should reduce shooting at the Maplewood range by 45 percent. The department met with neighborhood residents in June and sends weekly shooting schedules to neighborhood representatives. "We try not to shoot on Fridays unless absolutely necessary," Linders said. "We are trying to be a good neighbor." The city of Maplewood has also helped. Mayor Slawik said that in past years the city has added noise -deadening baffles and a sound -deflecting berm to the site. Maplewood Police last year stopped using the site for their weapons practices, as a gesture of support for the neighbors. http://www.twi nci ti es.com /2016/09/06/m apl ewood-nei ghbors-cri nge-at-ongoi ng -guns hots-from-pol i ce-range/ 3/4 9/20/2016 Maplewood neighbors cringe at ongoing gunshots from police range Sen. Susan Kent, D -Woodbury, predicted that other police departments would quit using the range, too, further reducing noise. There may be other ranges built in the future that reduce the demand at the Maplewood range, she said. But for now, the rolling hills of Maplewood often sound like gang warfare in south Chicago. "People are trying to raise families, some of them working at home, and they are in this kind of environment," said Slawik. "At a minimum, we need to mitigate the sound. At a maximum, we close the range." Tags: Maplewood Bob Shaw Bob is a 40 -year veteran (yes, he is grizzled) who edited one Pulitzer Prizewinner and wrote two that were nominated. He has also worked in Des Moines, Colorado Springs and Palo Alto. He writes about the suburbs, the environment, housing, religion -- anything but politics. Secret pleasures: Kayaking on the Mississippi on the way to work, doughnuts brought in by someone else. Best office prank: Piling more papers onto Fred Melo's already trash -covered desk. '" Follow Bob Shaw @:3SI[iia4::IP Oao /'io o�iii. Oio� 'O Ooi Ola, iii/i vii Oiir i "ss r% Ola, ooir +°� vri Ola Oai, to vr,%, /iii/�,%oo/�i�/6,� �%i�� !�'9ii� r� ��%ii� /�/i i/%'�l��' /li 0 O fir,, / �O // G 0 pip ? /l /� ° O o i �70111 � f i p,%/p/ pppppro,✓ u ! lr% pp/rw/„/ jGpp/%/ ,,,r, 1p;i/p'pppl%p p�p p° AI/ ✓ p % p % plp p! /p 0111 Go�/r� -%i �a l0 / '% pilo, pi% '% piiai a %,.. j // l la You can help us improve our commenting space. Take our survey and follow our terms of use. http://www.twi nci ti es.com /2016/09/06/m apl ewood-nei ghbors-cri nge-at-ongoi ng -guns hots-from-pol i ce-range/ 4/4