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Posted on 10/31/2010 6:39:53 AM PDT by marktwain
A Pierce County Superior Court judge on Friday delayed a decision on whether to limit operations at the Kitsap Rifle and Revolver Club.
Kitsap County prosecutors are seeking a preliminary injunction against the club, which would curtail its operations temporarily to allow for safety and environmental inspections. The injunction also would bar any site development at the Central Kitsap gun club.
Some shooting could be allowed if the injunction is approved, but the allowed activities would be the discretion of the judge.
Friday morning, Pierce County Superior Court Judge Susan Serko delayed ruling on the injunction until Oct. 28 in a short hearing that showed the legal case taking shape. A decision could be made during the hearing, or in a written decision later.
“The judge recognized it’s a complicated issue,” KRRC executive director Marcus Carter said after the hearing.
He suggested the delayed decision on the injunction showed the judge “recognized there wasn’t any imminent harm” from the club.
Technically, the judge didn’t speak about safety or the merits of the injunction request.
It’s a fast-moving case with reams of documents, some filed relatively late by both sides in the case.
“As you well know, I have about 10 or 12 inches of material, here,” Serko said during the hearing, motioning to a stack of paperwork on the bench.
She called the request for a preliminary injunction an “extraordinary measure” that should be reviewed carefully so she can make a “reasoned” decision.
In the case filed in September, Kitsap County alleges the club constitutes a nuisance property because of safety, noise environmental and code violations.
“It’s possible for a case to have a lot of information, but still be distilled to a simple issue,” Deputy Prosecutor Neil Wachter said after Friday’s hearing.
The gun club this week hired Portland attorney Brian Chenoweth, who argued Friday to move the case back to Kitsap County Superior Court, citing convenience for most of the witnesses.
Wachter argued against the move because Kitsap’s eight judges would likely recuse themselves, and a judge from a neighboring county would need to be brought in.
Serko set an Oct. 22 hearing to determine whether the trial should move to Kitsap.
If it is a safety issue, I surprised the inspectors don’t get their buts out there and inspect it.
For it to be a nuisance, then there must be close neighbors to this range. Couldn’t tell from the article if there are any.
Judge Denies Kitsap County Request for Injunction in Gun Club Case
* By Christopher Dunagan
* Kitsap Sun
* Posted October 28, 2010 at 5:44 p.m., updated October 28, 2010 at 8:23 p.m.
Read more: http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2010/oct/28/judge-denies-county-request-for-preliminary-in/
TACOMA —
A Pierce County judge on Thursday denied Kitsap County’s request for a preliminary injunction involving the Kitsap Rifle and Revolver Club’s shooting range on Seabeck Highway.
But Superior Court Judge Susan Serko said she was concerned enough about safety issues to sign an order dealing with the potential of bullets leaving the range.
She also called for an “expedited trial” to hear from witnesses in early March. Serko first suggested a December trial, but the judge and attorneys could not mesh their schedules.
The judge said she would be willing to sign an order preventing further development at the gun range and allowing county officials to inspect the property.
“I have come to the conclusion that a preliminary injunction is not appropriate at this point, except for a few things,” she said.
According to Serko, the county’s case failed to meet the legal requirements for an injunction. For one thing, the county would need to show that it would likely prevail at trial. But witnesses for the two sides have contradicted each other at every turn in signed declarations presented to the judge. Sorting out the facts will need to wait for the trial or at least an expanded hearing, she said.
For an injunction, the county also needed to show that actual or substantial injury has occurred or is likely to occur if action is not taken.
“My concern is I’m reading and hearing dates that go back years...,” Serko said. “If this activity goes back years, I’m confused why the county would not have come in immediately.”
Although she would not issue an injunction, Serko said she intends to issue an order dealing with at least two issues.
“It seems to me, with my limited knowledge, that a gun range has to have safety (conditions) ... so that bullets do not stray into nearby homes,” she said.
Brian Chenoweth, attorney for the gun club, said he would not object to an order preventing the club from “knowingly permitting” bullets to leave the shooting range.
Serko directed Chenoweth and Deputy Prosecutor Neil Wachter to consult with each other and draw up an order addressing stray bullets and county access to the property. If they are unable to reach agreement, she said she would resolve the issues on Nov. 12, when she holds a short hearing to sign the order.
Thursday’s hearing began with a slide show by Wachter, who outlined the history of the property. He contended that the Kitsap Rifle and Revolver Club has been expanding the shooting range for years without required permits, while allowing users to bring more powerful and rapid-fire weapons.
What was once an occasional rifle shot heard from the range has become a true noise nuisance, Wachter said. In addition, these new weapons present a greater risk because their projectiles can travel much farther.
“We have defined a risk that had not been previously defined or understood by the county,” Wachter said, “and now we’re acting out of an obligation to do something.”
Chenoweth said the club has never denied county officials the right to visit the property. Club officials asked county representatives to fill out a form for scheduling purposes, because the range must be shut down during the inspection.
“Usually injunctions are to preserve the status quo,” Chenoweth said. “It seems the county is asking the court to regulate the range during the pendency of the action.”
He said the evidence will show that the actual use of the club’s property has not changed, although a change in intensity is allowed under land-use laws.
“The club has never been cited for any issue; no one has been hurt; and no errant bullet has ever been traced back to the club,” Chenoweth said.
Serko said she wants to hear from ballistics experts and from people who live near the range to decide for herself the extent of the risk.
Chenoweth told the judge that he expects some “candid discussions” between the parties in the case after county officials are able to inspect the property.
After the hearing, Marcus Carter, executive director of the Kitsap Rifle and Revolver Club, said he was satisfied with the proceeding.
“I think the judge is very thoughtful and realizes the complexity of this issue,” he said, adding that the club is looking forward to working with the county.
Wachter called Thursday’s hearing “the first step in a long journey” in which the court must balance what is fair to the neighbors with the desires of the club to run a shooting range.
“We see this case as presenting a clear need for rebalancing the equities,” he said. “We believe the club has not really taken into account the neighbors as it has changed through the years.”
Environmental issues are just one of the tools liberals are trying to use to control issues they know they can't attack head on. Recently there was a story about how the Marine Corps are going to be wasting millions of dollars cleaning up “lead contamination” from a 12 acre field because some moron thinks it's no longer useful for a trap shooting range, and it “might” be harmful to the “breeding grounds” of insects that are “endangered”. These insects, by the way, breed in puddles that are only present during rainy periods. A good spraying of DDT would take care of the issue.
Until we clean the judiciary of liberal activists and find a means for hitting back at the enviro whackos monetarily when they file these harassment suits, they will continue to win by default because no one has the financial resources to stand up to them.
I’ll bet that the “Noise factor” has happened because of a spread of development.
Most gun clubs & shooting ranges I know of started life waaaaay away from homes.
The homes encroach & then the home buyers get incensed to find out that they have a ‘noise’ issue.
If the gun club was there first, that should end the lawsuits.
Los Angeles & Burbank had a big problem for years with people buying homes in the vicinity of either airport & then complaining about noise & getting lots of money in lawsuits.
It was a cash cow for fraud, & lots of money was collected.
L A City Council finally woke up & said that you could not buy near an airport & then sue over noise....not even in the flight path.
Judge Denies Kitsap County Request for Injunction in Gun Club Case
TACOMA —
A Pierce County judge on Thursday denied Kitsap County’s request for a preliminary injunction involving the Kitsap Rifle and Revolver Club’s shooting range on Seabeck Highway.
But Superior Court Judge Susan Serko said she was concerned enough about safety issues to sign an order dealing with the potential of bullets leaving the range.
She also called for an “expedited trial” to hear from witnesses in early March. Serko first suggested a December trial, but the judge and attorneys could not mesh their schedules.
The judge said she would be willing to sign an order preventing further development at the gun range and allowing county officials to inspect the property.
“I have come to the conclusion that a preliminary injunction is not appropriate at this point, except for a few things,” she said.
It’s in Outer Mongolia,,,right??
Sorry about that. I usually put the state abbreviation in the title line. I missed it this time, but Washington was in the key words. Not knowing where the story is from is a real source of frustration. Fortunately, freerepublic has so much expertise on tap that the followup to this story was quickly posted.
Then folks started building all around it, folks moving in, strip malls etc.
The Club was there first...but they'll lose. Folks don't like the sound of .300 Magnums firing within earshot of schools and the local Starbucks.
>>”What was once an occasional rifle shot heard from the range has become a true noise nuisance, Wachter said. In addition, these new weapons present a greater risk because their projectiles can travel much farther.”<<
Oh really? Since when?
WA ping......
Say WA? Evergreen State ping
Quick link: WA State Board
FReepmail sionnsar if you want on or off this ping list.
Ping sionnsar if you see a Washington state related thread.
“I couldn’t even determine where this story is from.”
You could have if you had looked at the original article from the Kitsap Sun.
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