Medical Lake gun club opponents to get day in court

MEDICAL LAKE — Opponents of the Spokane Gun Club’s proposed shooting range north of the city are getting their day in court on Friday.

A suit filed in Spokane Superior Court by members of the Whitehead family, many of whom live adjacent to the gun range, proposed to be built between West McFarlane and Thorpe roads and just west of Brooks Road, contend that Spokane County misapplied a county code requiring approval of at least 50 percent of property owners lift the no-shooting restriction.

Their contention is how the county defined “property owners.”

According to an email from Patricia Apregan, an area land owner and member of the Whitehead family who collectively filed the lawsuit, the county Planning Department applied the 50-percent rule only to the owners of the single parcel, and excluded surrounding parcel owners, which, she contends, was how the original no-shooting restriction was applied in 1993 when it was created.

Western Pacific Timber LLC was the property owner when County Commissioners approved the petition by the Spokane Gun Club to re-designate a site 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 Spokane Gun Club then purchased the property in September for $920,000, according to county records.

“Our family believes this is an abuse that could not go unanswered,” Apregan said in her email. “We are going to court to have a judge make a clear definition of this code and direct the County Planning Department to apply it consistently and fairly.”

The civil case will be argued in Spokane Superior Court before Judge Tony Hazel tomorrow, Friday, Jan. 17, at 1:30 p.m., at the Spokane County Courthouse, courtroom 405.

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