Spokane County cracks down on cars clogging two popular viewpoints at request of concerned neighbors

There’ll be no more necking, tom foolery or loitering at two prominent eastern Spokane County viewpoints for the foreseeable future.

Nuisance activities along Fruit Hill Road near Spokane Valley and Quinimose Road in Liberty Lake have gotten so severe that Spokane County commissioners last week banned parking along large sections of the streets.

Both roads are on hillsides clear of trees, making them prime spots for sunset watchers and those looking to engage in more bothersome shenanigans after dark.

County engineer Matt Zarecor said the changes came at the request of the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office and the people who live on or near the two streets who say they’ve been dealing with noise, litter and property damage for years. Those who frequent the viewpoints nightly trespass to hold their festivities on private property and are causing safety concerns, the residents told the commissioners during public comment.

Zarecor said the move to restrict parking on the two streets to address nuisance activities is the first of it’s kind “in a very long time, maybe ever.”

The restrictions should provide more tools to local law enforcement to combat the miscreant behavior.

“Law enforcement just has a challenging job, and if they’re saying this would be helpful for them in dealing with it, then we’re trying to help our friends in law enforcement,” Zarecor said.

The parking zones will stretch from the hairpin turn where East Fruit Hill becomes North Fruit Hill to the top of the hill, and from 450 feet south of Molter Road on Quinimose to just before the intersection with Broken Lance Drive.

Arbor Crest Wine Cellars viticulturist Jim van Löben Sels said he’s seen the nuisance activities along Fruit Hill from two perspectives, as a resident of the bottom of the hill and his role with the winery at the top.

Traffic began picking up during the pandemic, he said, and the attraction of the street as a hangout spot has yet to dissipate. He sees more of it during the summer, which leads him to believe that students make up a large proportion of the visitors. They race up and down the road, park alongside it leaving little room for traffic to squeeze by and leave behind large amounts of trash.

“Our winery crew goes out about every other day to pick up trash and sweep up glass from broken bottles,” van Löben Sels said.

Dale Otto, a resident of the neighborhood for 40 years, said if it wasn’t for clean up efforts by Arborcrest and his neighbors, “this would be a city dump up here.”

John Cushman, another resident of the area, said there’s up to a dozen cars parked on the side of the steep winding road every night. He and his neighbors have tried contacting law enforcement but seldom see a response. He hopes that changes under the new restrictions.

“I’m pretty sure if they would send a couple officers up here three or four times a week, and actually stop these people and write tickets and enforce the deal, I think after a few weeks that would change the attitude,” Cushman said. “I hope that they’ll enforce it, and by enforcing it, we’ll have less and less people up here obstructing traffic and making messes.”

Mark Gregory, a spokesman with the sheriff’s office, said deputies can get spread thin and often must prioritize calls. Oftentimes, nuisance activity is relatively low on the list.

Gregory said the parking restrictions will add another tool to a responding deputy’s tool box when they can respond to calls on Fruit Hill or Quinimose, and the signage will hopefully help dissipate the issue when they cannot.

The neighborhood’s concerns go beyond just the nuisance activities, Otto said. There have been occasions where he’s heard gunshots, seen near collisions on the skinny road when it’s blocked by parked cars and heard from other neighbors who were threatened with violence in confrontations with the visitors.

He said many neighbors are worried for their safety, including the possibility someone may spark a wildfire with the grills, fireplaces and fireworks they see hauled up the hill.

“I keep the weeds pretty well mowed down around my house, but the people behind me live in the trees,” Otto said. “There’s about, say, five or six houses back here that are all in the trees and the grass. We get a fire going up here, I don’t know if they’ll be safe or not.”

The folks on or near Quinimose have had to contend with similar challenges and share many of the same concerns as their Fruit Hill counterparts.

“It’s another area with really a great view of the valley, but also really challenging for law enforcement and for some of the neighbors,” Zarecor told the commissioners last Tuesday. “There’s been a lot of undesirable activity in the area.”

The public works department had “no parking” signs posted on sections of Quinimose, Zarecor explained, but those specified no parking on the asphalt, which made it challenging for law enforcement to enforce the restrictions. The commissioners move Tuesday to extend the no parking area on Quinimose, and will allow for more general no parking signs.

Stefanie Cummings told the commissioners during public comment that she passes through that section of Quinimose every day, and those who park along the road are creating a traffic hazard.

“There has been several times I come around this blind corner and almost hit cars head on or even individual people walking through the roadway,” Cummings said.

“I’m afraid I’m going to run one over at some point because they are not paying attention.”

Like on Fruit Hill, the visitor activities are doing more than just causing traffic woes. Cummings said she has seen people “doing undesirable activities in the back of their vehicles,” or lighting fireworks that could spark a wildfire.

Shuwen Wang echoed Cummings’ safety concerns, adding that she experienced a break-in a few years ago and heard another neighbor recently did as well.

“Some neighbors have been threatened by some of those people down there when they were told not to trespass,” Wang said.

She and a few others who spoke during the meeting advised the commissioners to extend the restrictions on a longer stretch so the restrictions don’t have the adverse effect of pushing the activities farther down Quinimose.

Commissioner Mary Kuney, who chairs the board, recommended residents contact the sheriff’s department and the roads department if there continues to be issues along Fruit Hill and Quinimose. She said the county could consider extending the no parking zones at a later date.

Cushman said he hopes the county’s move is effective for the sake of his property, his neighbors and those who seem to enjoy the view from the hillside.

“There’s got to be spots for kids to let off their steam,” Cushman said. “But it certainly doesn’t need to be on the hill below Arbor Crest because somebody is going to get hurt.”