PROPOSED FACILITIES
The project description on the website states the Royal Rangers are proposing a year-round campground and conference center with a maximum capacity of 350 people including: dormitories, gymnasium, dining room, meeting rooms, tent camping, enclosed amphitheater, outdoor chapel, swimming pool, enclosed gun range, archery range, rope apparatus courses, nature trails, basketball courts, parking, and natural areas on 50.31 acres.
The Assemblies of God, a Christian organization, sponsors the Royal Rangers program for boys between the ages of 5 and 18. The intent of the program is to provide opportunities for youth to be introduced to church, community and nature-related activities through interaction with qualified leaders and scouting experiences. The program is similar in structure to the Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts of America, with different levels of life skill activities and achievements for different age groups.
Two important aspects of the Royal Rangers activities are camping and outdoor skills. As a result, they are in constant need of finding appropriate locations for these activities. Due to the difficulty of securing temporary campsites, the Royal Rangers organization intends to acquire and develop its own campgrounds.
This campground would be used for regional camp sessions, family camp sessions, summer camps and sectional camps that would be used for three- to five-day periods. They would also have science camp sessions, available to school science groups for four-day sessions.
The proposed camp facility would be used by the different camp sessions approximately 108 days per year, and although the maximum capacity of the campsite is 350 persons, the majority of the camps that operate throughout the year would consist of a maximum of 200 to 225 campers.
The proposed project provides a 57,588-square foot frontier-style structure consisting of the CEECC, which would include 10 dormitories with a total of 230 beds, a gymnasium, dining room and meeting rooms. The CEECC would consist of dorm buildings and a gym building forming a ring around a large courtyard area.
A 50-yard fully enclosed gun range is proposed in the southwestern portion of the project site. It would be designed to exceed the minimum guidelines for safety and noise abatement as specified by the National Rifle Association (NRA). Compliance with these guidelines and the enclosure of the gun range would ensure that all ammunition is trapped within the range. The range would be in operation from 10 a.m. to no later than 4:30 p.m.
The following components would be incorporated into the project design to prevent over shots and ricochets within the enclosed gun range:
- A steel roof over the shooting gallery and range.
- Deflector panels in front of the range structure.
- A high baffle located mid-way within the range.
- A bullet shield located at the end of the range.
- A sand floor for the firing lanes.
Royal Rangers would employ qualified range officers to operate the gun range. All range officers, would be approved by the Royal Rangers District office and certified by the NRA and the National Muzzle Loading Association (NMLRA). The range officers would be responsible at all times for the safe operation of the gun range.
Guns and ammunitions would be stored in a concrete, locked ammunition vault inside the gun range, accessible only to the certified range officers. The types of weapons that would be allowed on the gun range include BB guns, pellet guns, small bore (.22 rim fire), and muzzle-loading rifles. The types of ammunition allowed on the gun range are limited to any soft lead projectile and any round approved for target competition; no “high-powered” round would be allowed for use.
For more information on the proposed camp and to view the documents, go to the county’s website at www.sbcounty.gov/landuseservices. The documents Talarico referred to are found in Public Notices-Projects. Scroll down to Royal Rangers Adventure Camp (Twin Peaks) and go to 2.0 Project Description.
Send comments regarding the Royal Rangers camp to Matt Slowik at 385 N. Arrowhead Ave., 1st Floor, San Bernardino, CA, 92415-0182. Comments must be received in writing by Aug. 12.
