Noise drives Dover petition

In the past couple of years, din and garbage have become a nuisance for residents near Badger Lake, south of the Turnbull Wildlife Refuge.

Neighbors have called Spokane County Sheriff’s deputies several times in the past few years complaining of loud noise, drinking and shooting occurring at all hours of the night in the hills above Badger Lake Estates mobile home park.

“The partying has just got out of control,” resident Jim Sooy told Spokane County commissioners last week.

Sooy petitioned the county to declare Dover Road, a steep dirt track that leads to the area, a limited access road and set up a gate that only nearby residents would have a key to unlock.

“It’s a matter of abusing the area,” said Teri Jo Christianson, manager of the mobile home park. “If they just went out there and did nothing, that would be one thing. But why should we have to go clean it up?”

Beer bottles and bonfire remains aren’t the only garbage homeowners have been schlepping away from the secluded spot about an hour south of Spokane. Christianson showed commissioners images of dozens of shattered clay pigeons and shotgun shells littering the ground the night after an alleged party, right up to the edge of a bluff overlooking the lake and the park.

“This is a dangerous thing, because if kids are partying – if they’re getting drunk – if there’s problems, they’re going to fall off those cliffs,” Christianson said.

Christianson has lived in the Badger Lake community for 18 years. She said only recently have the noise, partying and garbage become a major issue. In June 2013, she began documenting the issues when a party she said was tied to a nearby fraternity attracted 150 people to the hills above her home, practically in her backyard.

“They’re looking for a spot where they’re not supervised,” she said. “We’ve all been there, done that.”

Christianson also said she worries about wildfire danger in the area. The spot where partygoers have constructed multiple fire pits using discarded wooden pallets is about 2 miles from where the Watermelon Hill fire torched nearly 11,000 acres and threatened about 100 homes in July 2014.

Sooy petitioned the county for limited access in October. The residents will come up with the money to buy a gate and keys for residents to have access to Dover Road, which receives little county maintenance, said County Engineer Bob Brueggemann, who retired last week. Graders level the road once every five or six years to make sure emergency vehicles can use it, Brueggemann said.

The land around the dirt road is owned by several private property holders, all of whom signed the petition to designate Dover as a limited access road. That designation is defined under county code as any road that restricts vehicle traffic.

Residents plan to install a locked fence in the coming weeks after commissioners approved the application March 10. Christianson said she would have preferred to have the road blocked off two years ago, before the large parties began, but is pleased with the county’s quick response to protect the area.

“It went great,” Christianson said of her dealings with the county. “They were very, very helpful.”