Motocross track grinds to a halt
digg it!
Facebook
del.icio.us
Seed Newsvine
Fark It
Reddit
BY AARON SANDERFORD
RURAL DENTON - Motorcycle and all-terrain vehicle engines revved like screaming Weed Eaters as riders wove through high-banked turns and stirred dust climbing to jump a hill.
Dr. David Samani's private motocross track at 8800 Kolbrook Road, which Lincoln riders have called their closest reasonable option, hummed with life.
A mile away, in an acreage subdivision among the rolling hills southwest of Lincoln, the sounds were easily discernable.
Amid the country bustle of crickets, bugs and birds - and at about the same volume - the revving engines intruded.
Country-dwellers who moved here for the ambience have protested loudly, blocking Samani's efforts at the county level to make his track commercial or a club.
Even after the Lancaster County Board decided against pursuing a civil suit against Samani for improper use of zoned land, the fight continued.
"It's a very penetrating type of noise," said Don Helmuth of Audubon Nebraska. "On Spring Creek it sounds like there are chainsaws on the prairie."
Samani said Monday that he had received a letter Friday afternoon from the Lincoln Building and Safety Department that said he must stop all riding on his land.
The letter from Mike Merwick, director of Building and Safety, calls the current use of his property improper for agriculturally zoned land.
It disagrees with Samani's assertions that people who ride there are "friends and family," dismissing that as a non-factor even if proved true.
And the letter threatens misdemeanor prosecution of Samani if anyone rides on his land after Wednesday.
"I can't believe it's gone this far," Samani said. "They even told me I couldn't ride there, on my own property."
Dave Wallace, who rides at Samani's track, pondered the loss, saying he'd have to spend more time in the car and less on his bike to get to the nearest motocross tracks in Ashland and Friend.
Many riders prefer the track at Milford Lake near Manhattan, Kan.
"People in county government are using their position and their resources to get what they want, not what the public wants," Wallace said. "I guess we're back to square one, not having anywhere to ride.
"It would be like if someone shut down the soccer fields in Lincoln: Kids would need a place to play like we need one to ride."
County Commissioner Larry Hudkins, up for re-election this fall, said the County Board had told the county attorney's office it didn't want to sue or prosecute.
Hudkins expressed fears that strict interpretation of zoning ordinances could lead to actions against farmers running tractors or all-terrain vehicles and could meddle with the private use of private land.
Audubon Nebraska, a Samani neighbor, already is pursuing a special permit because it fears it might be violating zoning ordinances by charging for classes, he said. Most commercial uses other than agriculture are outlawed.
"Unless there was a clear violation, my position was we had no business getting involved," Hudkins said. "I guess the county attorney takes his own actions."
County Attorney Gary Lacey declined to comment Monday, saying he couldn't speak about an ongoing criminal investigation, even if the allegation was improper use of land.
Neighbors, led by David and Cindy Cochran, have filed a complaint against Samani, alleging he flouted the law by operating a commercial, recreational or club track, all violations of zoning ordinances.
The property's owner is listed as Husker Off-Road Club, in care of Samani, and the club, which the document alleges is a for-profit organization, operates a Web site for the group and track.
But the complaint itself is not a public record, according to state law. The Journal Star received a copy from an anonymous source. Neighbors recognized it as the complaint they had signed and sent to Building and Safety.
The document says neighbors sent people to the track to see what it would take for a rider to become a friend or family member of Samani.
The documents allege Samani said only that he charged no membership fees and that the new rider could donate. That, the complaint argued, is not friendship.
Neighbors fumed at memories of more than 15 riders on the track at once. Independent checks over several weeks by the Journal Star found four to 10 riders.
Samani disagreed with assertions that he opened his track to more than friends and family and said he planned to sue the county. The county attorney's office previously had suggested that he could ride with friends and family there.
Several riders interviewed last month at the track said they were friends of Samani, who has declined to describe his definition of friendship.
Motocross riders said they had to ride somewhere and they would prefer to avoid using construction sites and other illegal avenues.
Samani said he had hoped to create a place where the fast-growing motor sport could catch on. His goal, he said, was to share a sport he loves on a safe, professional-grade track.
Wallace and other riders said they felt attacked by neighbors who visited the track, acted as if they were friends, asked questions and wanted nothing to do with it.
Audubon Nebraska operates its Spring Creek Prairie nearby, he said, but neighbors aren't complaining about its use of land.
"Prairie doesn't make noise," said David Cochran, who lives on 160 nearby wooded acres he and his wife, Cindy, bought in the 1980s.
But regional businesses might feel an impact if the track closes, said Rod Yanagida of Rod's Outdoor Power, U.S. 77 and Saltillo Road.
Rod's has sold more dirt bikes since Samani's private track opened, he said, especially used motocross bikes to young people.
"I can't believe they'd stop a guy who was gracious enough to spend his own money to develop something for a sport he loves, pay big bucks to have a professional design team develop three tracks out there and not let him use it privately," he said. "That's unbelievable."
Samani has more than $500,000 invested in the land, track and maintenance equipment.
Yanagida said he understood neighbors' concerns about traffic, saying race times could be hectic, but he said the chainsaws he sold were louder than the bikes.
From the Cochrans' deck, the sound is far from slight, David Cochran said. They used to read on the deck that overlooks a natural pond and faces the track.
"It's not how loud it is," he said. "It's the character of the sound, actually the noise.
"I wanted solitude and nature, to be out in the country with the wildlife and the bugs. This property is very personal to us."
Cindy Cochran said she disliked gardening when the engines were going, that she prayed for bad weather so they'd stop and she could step outside or open a window.
To be honest, she said, a lot of neighbors in the hills near the track are worried about property values; what if they wanted to subdivide?
"We were out here enjoying life, and this got plopped down here."
Both sides said they wanted motocross riders to find a place to ride. County officials have said they would work to find a place, even starting a committee.
So far Samani's received few viable suggestions, and he's angry.
He said he tried to include the neighbors, but they wanted no part. Neighbors said he included them only after he'd started work on the track and treated the track as something that could not be fought.
Said Wallace, the motocross rider: "If somebody walked in from another state and heard both sides of the story, it looks unfair. Things aren't what they seem."
Neighbors, though bracing for the land-use fight to be settled in court, were giddy Monday with anticipation of quiet.
Martha Hall, a neighbor who signed the complaint, read a statement that said neighbors were pleased with the county's decision.
A motocross track is an inappropriate use of ag land, she said.
"We wish Dr. Samani well in his search for a new location," she said, "and we are looking forward to our neighborhood and the surrounding prairie land returning to the peace and quiet that has traditionally been its hallmark."
Reach Aaron Sanderford at 473-7225 or asanderford@;journalstar.com.
Post Your Comment
Standards and RulesYour posted comment will appear after it has been approved.
Frequently asked questions about story commenting.