Proposed gun range one step closer to approval

Spokane County Commissioners have approved a petition by the Spokane Gun Club to re-designate a 451-acre site near the Medical Lake Cemetery from no shooting to a shooting zone at their Aug. 20 meeting after receiving an approval recommendation from the Spokane County Shooting Advisory Committee.

The subject parcel is located in an area previously designated as a no-shooting area. The re-designation applies only to the subject parcel, according to the Shooting Advisory Committee recommendation, and removes at least one obstacle for the potential construction of skeet, trap shooting and pistol ranges and associated buildings and parking on the property.

The project must go through the conditional use permitting process that includes a gauntlet of required internal county reviews culminating in a public hearing before the county Hearing Examiner prior to any construction.

The gun club has since filed the necessary documents to start the permitting process, according to county information.

Currently owned by Western Pacific Timber LLC, the sale of the property to the gun club, located between West McFarlane and Thorpe roads, and just west of Brooks Road, is contingent upon the club obtaining all the necessary approvals to construct the proposed facility, according to Spokane Gun Club President John Cushman.

If built, the range would be directly across from the cemetery.

The parcel is bisected by low-volume Burlington Northern Santa Fe tracks that carry 14 trains per day between Spokane and Wenatchee, BNSF officials said.

According to the Shooting Advisory Committee recommendation, the Spokane Gun Club “strictly controls member activities and non-members will not be permitted to use the parcel.”

The committee also noted that, while the area was already subject to noise from overhead flights from Fairchild Air Force Base, BNSF trains, trucks and “an existing rifle range,” the natural topography and surrounding wooded areas would provide neighbors a natural noise buffer from the range.

Local residents and caretakers of the cemetery have expressed concerns about the potential gun-related noise generated by the proposed gun range.

The gun club’s initial request also included a rifle range. While Fairchild Air Force Base provided a preliminary approval for skeet and pistol ranges, base officials would not approve the rifle range, according to the Shooting Advisory Committee recommendation.

Lee Hughes can be reached at lee@cheneyfreepress.com.