East Bay parks board votes to close gun club

Officials from the East Bay Regional Park District on Tuesday voted unanimously to close the Chabot Gun Club next year, saying the club cannot afford the cost of meeting new state environmental regulations and cleaning up 53 years’ worth of lead from spent bullets.

The 7-0 vote followed a meeting that lasted more than five hours and drew a crowd of more than 500 people to a banquet room of Redwood Canyon Golf Course.

Hermanson was among scores of military veterans, police officers and hobbyist shooters who said Chabot provides one of the few spaces left in the Bay Area where people can learn how to use firearms safely.

If the club were to stay open, it would be required to install storm water filters and take steps to prevent lead contamination on the range, which could cost $4 million over 10 years, according to park officials.

The gun club’s lease expired Dec. 31, and the owners asked for a 10-year extension, insisting that they could pay for lead abatement by raising prices.

“I’m an environmentalist and a military brat, so this is really rife with conflict for me,” said board member Beverly Lane, noting that her Marine officer father kept guns around the house.



Besides the lead controversy, Chabot Gun Club has also been a source of noise complaints from hikers and nearby residents in Castro Valley.