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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-010 Council Ordinances1St Reading: 08/26/13 Publication: 9/17/13 2°a Reading: 09/09/13 Effective: 10/17/13 CITY OF LINO LAKES ORDINANCE NO. 10-13 AMENDING CHAPTER 504, SUBDIVISION 2, OF THE LINO LAKES CODE OF ORDINANCES RELATING TO FIREARMS; DISCHARGE PROHIBITED The City Council of the City of Lino Lakes, Minnesota, does ordain: Section 1. That Section 504.02, Subdivision 2, of the Lino Lakes Code of Ordinances be amended as follows: 504.02 DISCHARGE PROHIBITED. No person shall shoot, fire -off, discharge or explode any firearm or non -firearm upon or onto any of the following: (1) Any road, street, avenue, sidewalk or other public place in the city; (2) Lands and waters lying southerly of the center line of Lilac Street which are westerly of the center line of Lake Drive U.S. Highway No. 8 (Anoka County Road 23) extending along Hodgson Road (U.S. Highway No. 49) and North of Ash Street (County Road J) as the same are now laid out and traveled; this restriction applies only to firearms discharge and does not restrict bow and arrow (archery) non firearm deer hunting within this defined area; (3) Any city or county park or other city owned lands unless otherwise provided by this chapter or county ordinance; (4) Any lands within the city not owned by the person so using, unless the person doing so has on his or her person the written consent of the owner of the lands; (5) Within 750 feet of any school site (includes adjoining school district property), residences or buildings upon property not owned by the person so shooting, firing off, discharging or otherwise exploding any firearm or non -firearm without written consent of the owner. In no event shall the person discharge a shotgun where the projectile or pellets leave the premises upon which the person is authorized to hunt onto some other premises; or (6) A private landowner or person with written consent from the landowner may use a bow and pointed -tip arrow, provided that no arrow used shall pass within 500 feet of any school site (includes adjoining school district property), building on adjoining property or occupied residence, without the consent of that landowner. nor in any event create a nuisance or danger to the person. Adopted by the Lino Lakes City Council this 9th day of September, 2013. The motion for the adoption of the foregoing ordinance was introduced by Council Member Rafferty and was duly seconded by Council Member O' Donnell and upon vote being taken thereon, the following voted in favor thereof: Rafferty, O'Donnell, Roeser, Stoesz, Re' - t The following voted against same: none ATTEST: ulia e Bartell, City Jeff Reine ALAmillaft. or CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM 4A STAFF ORIGINATOR: John Swenson, Chief of Police MEETING DATE: September 9, 2013 TOPIC: Consider 2nd Reading and passage of Ordinance No. 10-13, Amending Chapter 504.02, regarding Firearms Discharge VOTE REQUIRED: 3/5 INTRODUCTION As part of City of Lino Lakes deer management initiative, staff has prepared an ordinance amendment to City Ordinance 504.02 for Council consideration. BACKGROUND: During the September 24, 2012 City Council Work Session, Council Member Roeser raised the issue of deer management programs and the potential to reduce deer/vehicle collisions in Lino Lakes. Staff presented a report on vehicle/deer collisions at the November 5, 2012 work session and has met with Anoka County Parks personnel regarding their hunting program in the Rice Creek Chain of Lakes Park. Staff has prepared 2013 Deer Management Update, which is attached to this staff report. The vehicle/deer collision incidents have declined over that last decade, ranging from 115 in 2002 to 67 in 2012. The 2013 Update outlined options that Council may wish to consider. This ordinance amendment is part of this continuing effort. This ordinance amendment will allow property owners in an area of the City, south of Lilac; west of Lake Dr.; along Hodgson Rd and north of Ash St., to grant permission to archery hunters to hunt deer on their property. This amendment does continue to prohibit use of firearms in this area of the City. RECOMMENDATION: The council approved the 1st Reading of Ordinance No. 10-13 on August 26, 2013. Staff is now recommending approval of 2nd Reading and Passage of Ordinance No. 10-13, Amending Chapter 504.02 of the City of Lino Lakes Code of Ordinances ATTACHMENTS 1. 2013 Updated Deer Management Report 2. Ordinance No 10-13 Lino Lakes Whitetail Deer Management Review 2013 Update July 31, 2013 Updated Crash Facts - Lino Lakes Police Department 2002-2012 Throughout the 2012 calendar year, there were a total of 67 vehicle v. deer crashes reported to the Lino Lakes Police Department. This number was up slightly (9 crashes) from 2011. 120 108 96 84 72 60 48 36 24 12 0 Lino Lakes Police Department - Car v. Deer Collisions 2002 - 2012 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Year Anoka County Records Management System # of Collisions Anoka County Parks Department 2012 Hunt Report & 2013 Update Based on spring 2012 aerial herd counts, Anoka County Park hunt coordinators set a harvest objective of 30 — 50 deer for their 2012 park archery season. At the end of the hunting season, the Anoka County Parks Department reported that their permitted hunters harvested a total of 47 deer from the Rice Creek Chain of Lakes Park throughout the 2012 archery hunting season. No aerial deer population survey was conducted in the winter/spring, 2013. According to the hunt coordinator, the expansion of their survey requirements and high costs of flight time has forced them to switch to conducting aerial surveys every two years. The next aerial survey is scheduled for February or March of 2014. In a meeting with an Anoka County Park hunt coordinator on July 23, 2013, the crash map visual was reviewed and we specifically discussed the problem location from the 7300 to 7500 block of Lake Dr. where the density of vehicle v. deer collisions was noticeably higher than most other areas. Because it's likely that the deer population along this part of Lake Dr. come from the Anoka County Park herd, the hunt coordinator agreed to hold an additional controlled hunt in the area behind the Lino Lakes Civic Complex in the fall of 2013 in an effort to remove more deer from that portion of the park. Other areas of county park property were reviewed to see how hunting might be used to impact deer numbers. No other areas of County Park owned lands in Lino Lakes were identified as potential hunting zones where hunts could be safely conducted. There will be 100 permits issued to archery hunters in 2013 for the designated hunting zones within the Rice Creek Chain of Lakes Park. The county park archery hunt will run from October 19 through December 31. 2013. Considerations for 2013 Amend Ordinance 504.02 to allow archery hunting: The West Central and Southwest portion of Lino Lakes is currently closed to any type of hunting by ordinance #504.02 (2). The closing of this area to all hunting was adopted by the Lino Lakes City Council in July, 1984. It's not clear in archived documents why this restriction was added to the ordinance at that time. Lino Lakes City Clerk, Julie Bartell, was able to locate the meeting notes for the council meetings around the July, 1984 timeframe but found no explanation for the change. Ordinance #504.02(2) states: No person shall shoot, fire -off, discharge or explode any firearm or non -firearm upon or onto any of the following: (2) Lands and waters lying southerly of the center line of Lilac Street which are westerly of the center line of Lake Drive (U.S. Highway No. 8) extending along Hodgson Road (U.S. Highway No. 49) and North of Ash Street (County Road J) as the same are now laid out and traveled; Upon talking with several long-time Lino Lakes residents who live within the closed area, I found that because of problems they had with firearm hunters in the late 1970's and early 1980's, residents attended several council meetings and requested the ordinance change which was accepted by the council in 1984. Currently, there are some privately owned properties in that "closed" area which could be archery hunted at the property owner's discretion if the City chose to amend the current ordinance to allow archery hunting in compliance with other the archery ordinance restrictions. However, this is not a recommendation to change the firearm restriction to this part of the ordinance. MBRB — 2013 Controlled Hunt Options In speaking with a hunt coordinator with the Metro Bow hunters Resource Base (MBRB), I learned that they would likely be able to conduct hunts in Lino Lakes during the fall of 2013 if they were requested to do so. Upon reviewing the map of property owned by the City of Lino Lakes, three parcels of land were identified as being large enough to safely and productively hold controlled archery deer hunts through the MBRB. The first property is north of the 8100 block of Diane St. and west of the 8200 block of Lake Dr. This parcel is 17.6 acres in size and would allow MBRB hunters access from Diane St. We don't have an estimated number of deer in this area. This area is somewhat restrictive to hunters because of the distance requirement in our archery ordinance. However, MBRB hunters would be able to hunt the northwestern portion of this parcel and still be in compliance with the ordinance. The second parcel is on the southeast corner of the Birch St. /Centerville Rd. intersection. This property is approximately 62 acres in size and has a few places where MBRB hunters could safely and productively archery hunt within the ordinance. There are several access points to this property. The third property is located in the West Oaks Edition. This property is approximately 58 acres in size. Although the crash data doesn't necessarily identify this as a problem deer area, this area is believed to hold a relatively large deer herd. In 2011, Ramsey County estimated a herd of 56 deer in their "open space" property less than one mile south of this Lino Lakes property. There are some limitations to this property. First, parking and access to the property for MBRB hunters would be very limited. Second, the distance requirement in the archery ordinance would limit hunters to one small wooded area on the north side of the city property. If the City chooses to approve a controlled hunt through the MBRB, the MBRB hunt coordinator asked that we notify their group as soon as possible so they could get their planning process started. If requested, the MBRB would likely hold their Lino Lakes hunts in November and/or December, 2013.