Exiled gun club eyes new digs

ASOTIN - The Lewiston Gun Club is still aiming at a rural Asotin County site for its next shooting complex.

The club has applied for a conditional-use permit to build a gun club on 90 acres near State Route 129, about eight miles south of Asotin.

County Planner Karst Riggers said the property on the Asotin flat is zoned for agricultural use, so a conditional-use permit is required. The Asotin County Planning Commission will discuss the application at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 3 at the Courthouse Annex in Asotin.

Neighboring property owners are being notified about the meeting, along with several agencies, including Clearwater Power, Blue Mountain Fire District, the Washington State Department of Transportation and the Department of Ecology. The notices were mailed today.

In addition, the property will be posted with information about the planning meeting, Riggers said. Area landowners will have an opportunity to weigh in on the proposed use, and the public can view a site plan of the project at the Building and Planning Department, located on the second floor of the annex.

After the planning commission studies the application, the advisory group will make a recommendation to the Asotin County commissioners, who have the final say. Riggers hopes to have a recommendation ready for consideration at the commissioners' Feb. 9 meeting.

The acreage, owned by Victor Dalosto, is about 20 minutes from the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley. Club members have described it as ideal for trap and skeet shooting, although some had concerns about the driving distance from Lewiston.

Members have been seeking a new home since they were forced to leave their old site near the Lewiston-Nez Perce County Regional Airport, primarily because of planned development at the airport and some pressure from the Federal Aviation Administration. Lewiston and Nez Perce County terminated the gun club's lease in 2008.

Over the years, other sites have been proposed, but the club has met resistance from neighbors of potential properties located closer to populated areas.

Several residences are near the highway between Asotin and Anatone, and it is unknown how those landowners will react to the latest proposal, Riggers said. To date, his office has not heard any feedback, but he said that's not surprising considering the notices just hit the mail.

The potential new home became an option after the club was approached by a landowner willing to sell at an affordable price, which wasn't disclosed, club members have said. The purchase would be conditioned on getting zoning approval and making sure the property has weather suitable to shooting.

Shannon Olsen, president of the Lewiston Gun Club, said if it all works out, the first phase of the project will involve getting power and water to the site. The long-range plan is to construct a complex that incorporates all shooting sports, she said, along with space for recreational vehicle parking.

"We are moving forward," Olsen said, "and from what we've heard, it sounds like there is a lot of community support for this. It's pretty exciting."

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Sandaine may be contacted at kerris@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2264. Follow her on Twitter @newsfromkerri.