ROYAL PALM BEACH, Fla. — A town hall took place at the Royal Palm Beach Cultural Center to discuss the possibility of bringing a raceway and ATV park to Palm Beach County.
The event was hosted by Palm Beach Commissioner Sarah Baxter, whose district includes the Loxahatchee/Acreage area. It drew about 200 people.
"Racing in general is a unique sport and the fact that Palm Beach County can host that through multiple venues makes it more unique," Madelyn Marconi, a motorsports advocate, said
Marconi said since the Palm Beach International Raceway closed down last year west of West Palm Beach, motorsports enthusiasts have been without a safe local track to race.
"You have to have a sanctioned facility first off. I mean that's the only way you can safely host drag races," Marconi said. "If people were to race on public streets it could be innocent lives that are lost."
The meeting drew in racing fans from beyond Palm Beach County, including Cody Savage the division director of the Southeast Division of the National Hot Rod Association.
"With Palm Beach International being gone the past few years, you've seen an uptick in safety issues with street racing and things like that, let alone the economic impact that the racetrack itself could bring to a community with jobs and sponsor dollars you know recreation spending," Savage said.
On the starting line is a proposal for a raceway on 128 acres along 20-mile bend in Loxahatchee.
All requests for information must be submitted before Oct. 30, then the request for proposal process begins.
"We want to see somebody with the money and the site, and the design comes in and said this is what we want to build, and this is how we save the taxpayer dollar because by them building it the county doesn't have to," Baxter said.
Also discussed was a GL Homes land swap that would allow them to develop a separate ATV park and campground north of 60th Street, west of Seminole Pratt Whitney Road. The ATV park originally was proposed on the Loxahatchee land.
She said the land swap is needed to free up land in the area in Loxahatchee for racing, and they needed to find a place for ATVs to go.
"A lot of the misconception that you read about is that allowing this swap actually reduces agricultural land. Iit isn't true, and it actually results in a net gain of agricultural land because of densities and once you calculate those in," Baxter said.
She said the land swap would also reduce 16,000 trips a day in the area for commuters.
Palm Beach County Board of Commissioners will vote on Tuesday, October 24 on the land swap.
Also at the meeting were residents from the Acreage area, who live near the proposed ATV park.
"We’re a small community and it’s all residential area, we’re farmers and we don’t want to hear a constant hum noise of ATVs," William Derks, who is opposed to the ATV park, said.
Baxter said the proposed park will be far enough from homes and with berms to reduce the noise
The proposed ATV park would also only allow certain vehicles and operate during limited hours and days of the week.
"I think this is very cruel to the community, no respect we have a right to live in peace and a right to live in a good environment," Young Derks, who opposes the ATV park, said.
The two said they're in favor of motorsports returning to Palm Beach County, just not the location.
While the discussion is underway, Baxter is proposing a temporary drag strip at the Palm Beach County Glades Airport in Pahokee.