COUNTY GRANTS TENTATIVE APPROVAL TO COVERT CANYON FOR MILITARY FIREARMS TRAINING; PUBLIC HAS UNTIL NOV. 6 TO APPEAL

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East County News Service

October 31, 2015 (Alpine) – The County’s Planning & Development Services department has issued a Stipulated Administrative Enforcement Order (SAEO) allowing the  owner of the controversial Covert Canyon LLC site in rural Alpine to conduct government military and law enforcement firearms training on an interim basis while pursuing a discretionary permit.

The order is a written decision by the director that may be appealed if a request for appeal is filed within 10 days of the decision date. Any appeal must be received by the department before November 5 at 5 p.m.

Covert Canyon’s property is located at 19191.19150 High Glen Road in Alpine. (View notice to property owners with project summary and map.)  The use is classified as Law Enforcement services as definite in section 1346 in the County Zoning Ordinance.

Covert Canyon’s owner has a history of  military-training operations without first obtaining permits and has previously been the target of enforcement actions by the county, including a past shut-down. Activities that raised concerns among some community members included live-fire exercises in which pigs were shot to provide training for military paramedics, as ECM reported in 2012.  Also see objections raised by Marc Halcon, the property owner, and our rebuttal to his objections, including additional past county enforcement actions.


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Comments

Finally!!!

After watching the inaccurate report by Channel 8 news yesterday I posted the following statement to them. It seems to apply to this report as well. Get the whole story and stop targeting this individual for helping military and law enforcement while saving tax dollars! "I cannot believe how miss leading this article is!!! You are not getting all the facts and the neighbors have their own violations to worry about. As a vet of the US Army having served in Dessert Storm this kind of facility is critical for live saving training. What, do you want the government to spend tax dollars to build facilities or a local business man who is highly motivated to aid the military and law enforcement to flip the bill? Why don't you take a closer look at the neighbors; they illegally take pictures of guests, have a restraining order for an assault on an employee of Covert Canyon, do not pay for the use of the easement to through national forest land, have not had a legal residence on their property due to their own permit issues, discarded environmentally damaging waste on their land, and continue a failing campaign in court against Marc Halcon for years? Get the facts people…these things are public record! You want to complain about the $1600 to file an appeal…what about the hundreds of thousands for dollars spent by the land owner? There have been many requirements and hoops that Halcon has appeased at his own expense that can never be recouped. Instead of bashing this man perhaps you should thank him for his patriotism and dedication to our troops. If you have ever served in the armed forces you know that training saves lives and the truth is that war is a nasty and ugly fact of our times. We do things that disgust us but the simple fact is it save lives. Tissue training is done with a vet present and the animals are medicated to experience as little distress as possible. This is vital to saving our solders lives on the battel field. Most often the public lives in bliss not knowing what we solders go through to protect their freedom and enjoy the rewards of our sacrifice happily not knowing. This training goes on in other places and is part of military programs like interrogation techniques that are equally hard to stomach. Get the facts!!! Channel 8, your bias report has just lost you another viewer and I will share my feelings with all my friends, family, and acquaintances to no longer watch your program. I am a proud patron of American Shooting Center and thanks to training at that retail gun range I survived a home invasion by a serial rapist solely on programs offered by Marc Halcon. He is not the boogieman you are painting him out to be. The use of pictures and video from articles your station ran around seven years ago just so how inept this report truly is.

We need more outdoor

We need more outdoor locations for our police and military to train so they can keep us safe. Sorry about the pigs, but that saves lives down the road, and is a small price to pay.

New money for Alpine

This is a great windfall for Alpine. The cops and soldiers will need hotel rooms, doughnuts and beer. They will spend millions in Alpine as this range becomes fully operational. Bonus, we will all be a little bit safer with these guys around.

Good News!

It's great to hear the county is letting Mr. Halcon do this! I've had the pleasure of training at his place in the past and you won't find another great piece of property in east county to do so. Everything from the training grounds to the professional attitude displayed by the training staff is top notch! Congrats to Mr. Halcon!

Great guy does a good thing

I am happy that Marc has got this training opportunity going, so get trained and protect yourself...jim

Finally!

After Mr. Halcon's lengthy struggle to obtain approval to train some of our most important public safety personnel (which he has the unique qualifications to do), it is certainly due time that the county allow him the ability to share his instruction and make a living, simultaneously.

firearms training

Its about time the county approves marcs permits to provide military training. Myself and many of my friends have trained on marcs Alpine property, it is a beautiful facilty 1st class, and has provided us many hours of professional training with Guncraft in all weapons platforms.. marc takes training on his property very serious, all aspects of safety are his first priority.. Mr. Halcans property is the ultimate area for firearms training in san diego county...good luck moving forward Marc..

About time for more ranges!

The county closes ranges and tightens access on open lands. Thank goodness we get another open range. Good luck Covert Canyon. We need you.

Great News!

This range is a great place for people to train! I am so glad to hear that after so many years of push-back that the County is FINALLY letting him open!

article

After years of unnecessary delay and cost brought on by folks that do not understand the need for this type of training by the men and women that defend our very existence, I for one am happy to see the project moving forward. It is legal in all regards despite what some claim. Do the right thing, issue the permits and let the business open.

It is about time...

Marc has been jumping through hoops put up by San Diego Rural Fire, Cleveland National Forest, etc. for YEARS! His primary problem has been a completely unreasonable neighbor. Congrats for getting it done to support our law enforcement and military.