Testimony heard on off-road park

Kirk Moore

The proposal to build the Atlantic Off-Highway Vehicle Park suffered a major setback early this morning when the Board of Adjustment overwhelmingly rejected the request for a use variance to allow the attraction to be built.

The board voted 7-1 after midnight following a five-hour hearing at which off-road riders made impassioned pleas in support of the park. They said the proposed facility is vital in giving young people a safe and controlled location to ride motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles.

But a majority of the board said they agreed with critics and neighbors that the benefits of the park would be outweighed by the noise and other effects of locating the park near a residential area, including drawing more riders to the site.

Noise from motorcycles and the prospects for state environmental approval were issues addressed by professionals testifying Wednesday night for the park group, which proposes to convert the 120-acre Shoreline Materials sand mine off Thomas Avenue.

The use variance for the property would have been a first step toward creating a regional trails riding facility for dirt bikes and all-terrain vehicles.

Even if the variance was granted, the park would still have needed state approval under the Coastal Area Facility Review Act. By using existing trails and open mining areas, the park will meet CAFRA requirements to minimize land clearance, said environmental consultant David Roth.

The trails there now "were created by longtime use" of informal, illegal off-road riding on the site, he said.

Noise and traffic engineer David Shropshire of Shropshire Associates in Lumberton said more than 1,000 feet of woodland buffer around the site will be adequate to keep noise levels below recognized standards for noise impacts on residential areas.

Shropshire said he bases his projections on his experiences at the New Jersey Motor Sports Park in Millville, where more intense racing events create more noise. One requirement for riders to use the Atlantic park will be to tune their vehicles to a peak 96-decibel noise limit at the exhaust pipe.

The township's existing noise ordinance limits noise on such rural tracts to 65 decibels at the property line. In reality, Shropshire said, neighbors will hear engine sounds from the park but it won't degrade noise conditions for residents.

"When I'm in my house, windows closed and the air conditioning on, one motorcycle going down Route 539 I hear for miles," said resident Steven Dimino. "I don't think a 1,000-foot buffer is going to contain all that noise."

Robert Hupacko of Eagleswood pointed out that noise now is uncontrolled at the site, which is frequented by illegal riders.

"There's nothing to prevent them from coming closer than 1,000 feet to residences," he said.

Local resident Richard Newman recalled when he lived three miles from Englishtown Raceway, "and even three miles away, you could hear the engines gunning."

Park backers continued their push back against police Capt. Richard Buzby, who in earlier sessions raised issues about public safety and whether the park's activities would be adequately controlled on the Shoreline site.

The lawyer for the proposed park, Howard Butensky, sent a letter to the township challenging a voucher from the board's planning professionals Taylor & Taylor that included a charge for several hours of conferring with Buzby.

Under state land use law, applicants are required to pay for the township professionals' time spent reviewing their project, explained Larry Coronado, board acting attorney.

"It gives a bad perception," Butensky told the board regarding the contacts between planners and Buzby. "To add insult to injury, the applicant is being billed for meetings with the objector."

Coronado said the board also has a letter from Police Chief Mark Siino saying that Buzby was attending the hearing as an authorized representative to raise police department concerns.

Park backers distributed copies of nearly identical letters that Parkertown Fire Co. Chief Frank Runza and Eagleswood Volunteer Fire Company President Robert Dalton submitted to state officials in support of the off-road park.

In the letters, the chiefs told how park president Dale Freitas worked with them to stage off-road events as fund-raisers. They expressed support for the park as a site for future fund-raisers, and as a measure to reduce illegal riding in their communities.

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Source: http://www.app.com/article/20090909/NEWS/909160302/1070/NEWS02/Testimony+heard+on+off-road+park

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