The county’s Board of Zoning Appeals tabled a conditional use application Tuesday for a Jefferson County property owner to operate an off-road motorcycles and ATV racing facility on their farm near Pleasant Ridge in Shelby Township.
Donald and Brenda Gunter applied for the conditional use at their properties on East Breezy Ridge and North East Prong roads and the Jefferson County Board of Zoning Appeals indicated that it would most likely be approved if there is no objection from one adjoining homeowner who was failed to be notified.
The land is used by IXCR cross country racing, which president and league owner Tim Bowman said has been running off-road racing for motorcycles and ATVs. He said they’ve been running on a section called King of the Mountain since 2008, and last year added a new nearby property that was purchased by Donald and Brenda Gunter of Batesville that’s designated as Pleasant Ridge.
“Last year there was someone that voiced a concern about the traffic and too much noise so that’s why we are here,” Bowman said.
Bowman said last year patrons accessed the facility by coming off State Road 250 onto Breezy Ridge Road and exited the same way. The plan now is to improve traffic flow with entry still through Breezy Ridge but the exit through a roadway on the property onto North East Prong Road to State Road 62. “That will eliminate half of the traffic flow when events are going on” that previously had funneled both to and from the site through Breezy Ridge Road, Bowman said.
The properties involved are 8000+ East Breezy Ridge Road, 8991 North East Prong Road, 9352 North East Prong Road, 9250 North East Prong Road, 8520 North East Prong Road and 8350+ North East Prong Road, all in Shelby Township.
The BZA gave tentative approval as long as one neighboring property owner, who failed to receive notice on the application, is contacted and does not oppose the application. Bowman said he did not realize that property was among the adjoining property owners who needed to be contacted for the application.
Board attorney Pat Magrath said under the county’s zoning ordinance βall adjoining landowners are entitled to notice and an opportunity to be heard. An adjoining landowner is somebody that is directly on the border of the property, on the corner border of the property, or even across the road.β
Dan Sheward, a neighbor who resides at 8692 East State Road 250, Canaan, said he isn’t bothered by the events but asked for better signage to direct people where they need to go in order to provide more safety on the roads. Bowman said larger signs can be made to better direct people.
“The noise wasn’t that bad,” Sheward said. “We’re to the east, and I just turn up the TV a little more … and I get to hear the National Anthem every morning.”
The King of the Mountain event this year will be May 14-15 while the Pleasant Ridge is on June 11-12.
Bowman said there are no future plans to stage more two events per year in that area. “We really like to race a property just one time a year because we want to preserve the property as much as we can,” he said, noting they typically try to “go back and fix some stuff” after the events, but that ” mother nature heals it with the rain and everything else.β
The only other item of business for the BZA was approval of an application for a variance from developmental standards from side property line and from center of road at 761 South Rogers Road, Lexington, in Republican Township. Rodney Pettit, on behalf of Dr. Robert Ellis, presented the request noting the adjoining lot is also owned by Ellis. The variance is needed to build an addition onto his house.
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