Shooting range case goes to high court
A group of neighbors west of Whitefish has appealed a District Court decision over a shooting range to the Montana Supreme Court.
In February, Flathead District Judge Ted Lympus dismissed a lawsuit filed by Tally Bissell Neighbors Inc. against Texas businessman Robert Hayes, alleging loud shotgun blasts are a public nuisance and violate constitutional guarantees.
Hayes initiated construction of the private, noncommercial shooting range, which now is owned by Eyrie Shotgun Ranch, a limited liability corporation. The facility is located at the former Sundance Farms site near the intersection of Farm-to-Market and Tally Lake roads.
The case is now in mediation at the direction of the high court, said Eric Kaplan, a Columbia Falls lawyer representing the neighborhood group.
Additionally, the neighbors have filed a zoning complaint with the Flathead County Planning Office, alleging that Hayes did not establish a use prior to zoning put in place in October 2007 and therefore doesn't have a nonconforming use, so the shooting range is illegal.
"Even if he had established a use as a shooting range, he has illegally expanded that use," Kaplan said. "What began as occasional shooting has evolved into a daily nonstop organized barrage of continuous explosions that bears little resemblance to the sporadic shooting that existed" before zoning went into effect.
"They have to continue in the manner and to the extent that they were operating on the day zoning went into place," Kaplan added.
According to Kaplan, County Zoning Administrator Jeff Harris has notified the shooting-range owners of the zoning complaint. Harris will make a determination in the case, Kaplan said, and either side can appeal the decision to the county Board of Adjustment. It can be further appealed to District Court.
"We're optimistic about this course of action," Kaplan said.
Neighbors maintain the shooting range has prevented the sale of surrounding properties, startled animals and people and interfered with neighborhood business pursuits.
Lympus sided with the defendants on all counts, noting that gunshot sounds can't be considered trespassing since sound isn't a tangible thing.
State law promotes the safety and enjoyment of shooting sports by protecting the locations and investment in shooting ranges for shotgun, archery, rifle and pistol shooting. Another state policy says that if shooting ranges are used during posted hours, they don't constitute a public nuisance.
Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com