Gun range backers seek deadline extension from county
Friday, December 26, 2008 2:53 PM PST
By Barbara LaBoe
Printable version
E-mail this articleThe Cowlitz Game and Anglers have missed the deadline for permits they need to build a controversial gun range near Castle Rock. Officials say the project is still on track, but they’ve asked Cowlitz County for an extension to keep the venture going.
Commissioners haven’t agreed to an extension but say they’ll schedule a public hearing on the matter early next year.
In 2007, commissioners granted the outdoors group a 10-year lease on county dredge spoils north of Castle Rock at the end of Toutle Park Road. But that lease was dependent on the group getting a special use permit from the county by the end of this year.
Organizers initially hoped to have the 80-acre gun range open by September and then revised it to Spring of 2009. But, permitting was more complicated than initially thought, said Skip Urling, a consultant representing the group.
“It’s a complicated process ... and the design has sort of evolved a little bit, and with each change in the design it took a little longer to get the application together,” Urling said.
Initially, the club hoped to build three shooting ranges, but the competition level 500-meter range has been dropped because officials had trouble meeting the county’s sound code in its design, Urling said. The placement of the trap range and archery area also have been moved.
The application has been turned in but not in enough time to answer the county’s questions and get a final ruling by a hearings examiner, Urling said. Still, he said he doesn’t expect to need a long extension to finish.
“I think it will mostly be a matter of clarification and further explaining some components,” Urling said. “I don’t think the project will change dramatically.”
Opponents of the project, though, say the gun range will destroy their bucolic setting and ruin their home values. Told of the extension request, the neighbors’ lawyer said they hope the delay and concerns raised by the state Department of Ecology convince commissioners that the project is a bad idea.
“(The) shooting range is an extraordinary nuisance, with severe hardships for the neighbors and a major liability for the county,” said attorney Frank Randolph, who added he’ll attend the still unscheduled hearing on the matter. “Given these facts and the current fiscal environment, the neighbors support the county reconsidering the project.”
Earlier this month, Ecology officials sent the county a letter outlining several concerns about the proposed shooting range, including losing part of the land set aside for dredge spoils and continued “alarming” erosion along the Toutle River.
Ecology didn’t oppose the gun range, but it did suggest an environmental impact study be conducted, which could further delay the project.
Urling, though, said he believes the project remains on track, assuming commissioners grant the extension. Commissioners will set a hearing date at their Jan. 13 regular meeting. The hearing likely will take place in late January or early February.
“The club is optimistic that if we can get a hearing early next year we could commence construction of at least the 305-yard range and parking lot and shooting shed and have them operational by probably next fall,” Urling said. “I’m cautiously optimistic.”
speak into the microphone wrote on Dec 26, 2008 7:18 AM:
El Fuego wrote on Dec 26, 2008 9:13 AM:
I wish when people like you who may or may not know all the facts make a statement like "When you have a certain family that have county and cowlitz game and anglers involved"....... If you know the facts, then speak out. Your opinions would go a lot further if you just do as your name implies and mention names. In this case, I think your well intened complaint will just land in the round file. "
sandmansgto wrote on Dec 26, 2008 9:43 AM:
speak into the microphone wrote on Dec 26, 2008 12:01 PM:
rythymaxe wrote on Jan 14, 2009 7:31 AM:
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