Published: May 15, 2008 05:52 pm            

ATV track shut down; litigation continues

vanessa.fultz@gaflnews.com



AmpXtreme Adrenaline Motorsports Park, a motocross track and campground 12 miles north of Live Oak in the Fort Union area, shut its gates last week, even though a court case demanding its closure remains in litigation. The reason the track was closed is unclear.

Jimmy and Stacey Worth, owners of property adjoining the track, sued the county in 2006 after the Suwannee County Zoning Board of Adjustment granted a special zoning exception allowing the track to open.

The Worths asked that the track be closed, claiming the county did not give them and other adjacent property owners sufficient notice of the public hearing nor an opportunity to appear and be heard at the meeting.

Court documents indicate the Worths claimed the county violated its own land use regulations, as well as Florida law, by waiting longer than 10 days after the application for the proposed land use change was filed to notify them and for failing to post a notice of the hearing at least 10 days beforehand.

Papers filed by the Worths’ attorney state that signs notifying the public of the hearing contained the wrong date and that the error wasn’t corrected until five days before the meeting.

According to court records the Worths are seeking damages in excess of $15,000.

Several nearby neighbors and landowners have opposed the park since its inception, taking issue with noise and additional traffic in the area.

However, numerous local residents as well as individuals from outside the area made use of the facility, saying it provided a good opportunity for family recreation.

The Worths own 300 acres of timber on land bordering the racetrack. They do not reside in the area. In court documents the Worths contend the racetrack has caused “significant diminution of their property value” as well as “denial of (the) opportunity to sell their property for commercial purposes.”

        

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