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December 29, 1993

40 pages

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Gees

Office, Editorial 985-2131

Shore gun range raises
neighborhood noise outcry;
district launches court action

THE FUTURE of a Lynn
Valley shooting range is
headed for a showdown in
the B.C. Supreme Court.

By Brent Mudry
and Kate Zimmerman

Over six months after receiving

a petion from, nearby residents
enraged over the range, North
Vancouver District filed a noise
bylaw enforcement suit in the
court's Vancouver registry on Dec.
23,
“Members of the North Shore
Skeet Club wil} be foreed 10 shut
down or gag their guns ‘if te
district. succeeds in its court
challenge. .

The noise bylaw, consolidated

on April 26, lists noises or sounds
that ‘council believes to be objec-
tionable or liable to disturb the
quiet, peace, rest, enjoyment,
comfort or convenience of the
public.”’
’ Noisy. dogs, animals, birds,
stereos and power garden tools are
included in the comprehensive list,
as are ‘‘gatherings of two or more
persons, where at least one human
voice is raised beyond the voice of
ordinary conversation,”’

But gun shots merit no specific
mention. A person shouting at
someone to stop shooting could be
in technical breach of the bylaw,
while the shooter might escape
penalty.

However, shooting may be in-
directly affected as a ‘‘non-con-
tinuous sound’? that exceeds 80
decibels during the day or 75
decibels at night.

The Supreme Court might also
decide a gun is a ‘“‘thing,’’ as the
bylaw’s catch-all phrase — states
“no person may make or allow to
be made by any person, animal,
bird or thing any noise or sound”’
that disturbs the public peace.

Parents of crying babies: could
thereby also be in breach.

On Sept. 2. North Shore Health
senior public health inspector Rick
Kwan) hand-delivered a question-
naire on shooting complaints to
190 area residents who presented a
petition to council on June 2.

A total! of 88 residents replied
by the Sept. 10 deadline. Four
residents complained in court-filed
affidavits that the shooting range
noise is so high they’ve been
forced to seek refuge inside their
homes, and even leave on Sundays
to escape.

News of the suit took members
of the North Shore Skeet Club by
surprise,

Said public relations officer
Gerry MacNeal, ‘*You can't start
a court action without notifying
both parties,” and the Skeet Club
was not notified.

“We will take this to court,”’ he
vowed.

MacNeal also noted that the
skeet club is under no obligation
to comply with North Vancouver
District bylaws, because the club is
focated on fand in the Greater
Vancouver Regional Listrict.

He said after the petition was
presented to North Vancouver
District council, Lynn Valley resi-
dents who complained about the
skeet club had been asked to keep
records of the offending noises.

MacNeal said that has not hap-
pened. ‘I think there’s a few un-
truths around here somewhere,”
he said.

MacNeal’s son Mike, a gun en-
thusiast of 25 years’ standing,
pointed out that the club is closed
for several months every winter
and is only open on Sundays the
rest of the time. ‘It’s 48 days a
year,’’ he said. ‘‘That's not
much,”

The Deep Cove resident, who
enjoys the competitive element of
skect-shooting, claims he wouldn’t
mind living next door to a range.
‘Of | could have one in my
back yard I probably would.”’

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