Florida county wants motocross course on land bought for conservation

Filed 2h ago · Via Florida Phoenix · The Buffoon Desk

THIS STORY IS SCORED

Frogs Legs Rag

Kevin MacLeod · incompetech.com · CC BY 4.0

Photo: Georges Seguin (Okki) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

Volusia County spent $4.6 million in taxpayer-approved preservation money to buy 365 acres inside the Florida Wildlife Corridor, then carved out 77 acres for a county-backed motocross course, according to reporting on the dispute. A council member pushing the plan, Don Dempsey, has a son who races motocross, which he says has nothing to do with his advocacy.

A consultant's report commissioned by the county projected attendance growing from roughly 9,400 visitors in year one to nearly 35,600 by year five, requiring two tracks, RV slips, concession stands, and parking for 250 vehicles. Critics, including the original architect of the county's land-buying program, call it a bait-and-switch that threatens public trust in conservation funding.

The nearest existing track owner warned the council the project may not even be financially viable, a concern one council member acknowledged on the record. The county's response to environmental objections has been that the course involves no pavement, just dirt.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.

✒ FROM THE EDITORIAL DESK

When the voters handed over $4.6 million to keep land wild, they weren't picturing RV slips and a concession stand. Saying it's only dirt is like telling your neighbor you didn't wreck his garden, you just dug it up real careful. And when the man down the road who already runs a track says the numbers won't hold, you'd think a council would at least slow down long enough to hear him twice.

Source: Read the original at Florida Phoenix → Scored: Frogs Legs Rag · Kevin MacLeod · CC BY 4.0