The dispute over whether all of French Creek Road has been a public county road for 131 years or whether a 3-mile stretch is merely a private access road to adjacent private property will get a hearing in the state Court of Appeals in Spokane later this month.
Gamble Land and Timber and Cascade Holdings Group, which own property along a 3-mile stretch of the road, appealed the 2019 ruling in Okanogan County Superior Court that found French Creek Road has been a county road since it was established in 1889, before Washington became a state.
Okanogan County and the Okanogan Open Roads Coalition are defending the public status of the road.
Oral arguments before a three-judge panel will be held via Zoom on Thursday, Jan. 28, at 10 a.m. The appellants and respondents will each have 15 minutes to make their case.
The public can listen to a live-stream of the arguments on tvw.org, Washington’s public affairs network. The video link can be obtained online by searching for “Washington courts virtual court proceedings” and looking under Court of Appeals, Division III, or at http://www.tvw.org.
