Building new motocross park......advice

[WoodsWarrior]

My wife and I own a 150 acre farm in North Georgia. We have been approached by many people in the area about building a new track or even a whole race park.
We have spent a couple of years at the races with our kids, but know nothing about building or running a track. Our land is ideal, and we do not use it for farming so......we're considering it.
How much is involved in getting something like this started? Money? Liability Insurance? EPA? and so on....any comments or help would be appreciated.
If we did this, I would only want a first rate facility with MX/SX , Pee Wee, Vintage, and hare scrambles tracks. Good concessions, bathrooms, camp areas and so on. There is also a nice three bedroom house on the property that we would want a track manager to live in (free of course) We already have heavy equipment, and there are three lakes on the property for water sources. Any ideas.....????

 

[Weasel]

I'm sure that there is alot of work and dedication involved in building/owning and runing a motocross track, not to mention the money factor. If you are serious about this, which is cool because there are never too many places to ride/race. I would approch one of your local track owner's and ask him or her what all is involved in building and opening a new facility other than the obvious. Find out what all permit's and regulation's you will need to do so. Ask as many question's as you can to learn what all you need to do to reach your goal of opening up your own mx park. Good Luck

Weasel

 

[Grok]

Wish I wasn't so far away, ah well. I have some track/trail experience and one of the first things I'd do is see how the local support is. I don't mean asking the guys hanging out at the bike shop, but all the non-cyclists. You can address some of the possible issues they may have, while explaining the benefits. Even in sparsely populated areas people can still whine. If the whining is persistent and load enough......well, roadblocks can pop up in the most unexpected places.:( This can kill a great project. Anyway in the process of canvassing the locals, you may find some local knowledge and support. These facilities can bring big bucks into the community and can operate all year round.
Good Luck!

 

[twiggy]

WW-

Where in N-GA are you? I'm close to Blue Ridge.

Anyway, check out http://www.georgiaoffroad.com . They have a list of all the riding tracks/trails in the North Georgia area. Most of the tracks have a web site that list contact information. They should be able to give you the info that you need. I know some of the N GA track folks also frequent the bulliten board there, and they all seem pretty helpful.

Jon

 

[High Lord Gomer]

Give Barbara and Jimmy Parrish a call @ 803-482-4759. They own and have been running TNT Motorsports Park near Chester, SC for the last 8 (?) years or so. Jimmy actually works at going around building tracks and trails, now, so he is familiar with legal and environmental issues in addition to the obvious physical ones.

 

[cybert]

You might also give theses guys a call. They just opened up about two weeks ago here in Maryland. I hear the owner is a real down to earth guy. Heres the link.
http://www.thelandingmx.com

 

[High Lord Gomer]

Hey, Cybert...do you live near there? I grew up (what little I did) near that area.

 

[WoodsWarrior]

We live in Anniston, Al but our land is in Lafayette, GA. We are originally from Dalton, GA. The land is about 15-20 minutes from I-75 and I think it would be a great location for riders coming from both Alabama and Georgia...also Eastern Tennessee.
I'll check out the site you mentioned! Thanks.

Originally posted by twiggy
WW-

Where in N-GA are you? I'm close to Blue Ridge.

Anyway, check out http://www.georgiaoffroad.com . They have a list of all the riding tracks/trails in the North Georgia area. Most of the tracks have a web site that list contact information. They should be able to give you the info that you need. I know some of the N GA track folks also frequent the bulliten board there, and they all seem pretty helpful.

Jon

 

[cybert]

Hey High Lord Gomer, I live in the Baltimore area. Where abouts did you grow up ?

 

[High Lord Gomer]

We lived near Edgewater (south of Annapolis) until 76, then near Ridgely (half hour from Easton) until 83. My father still works near Glenn Bernie.

 

[lawman]

ww: you have gotten lots of good suggestions! i have some experience on the legal end of this kind of stuff. along the lines of the excellent suggestion above about checking for support among non-riders, i'd find out about zoning requirements--that's 1 of the main tools used to keep tracks from opening or shut them down later. then, as was suggested above, you want to try to gauge/obtain local support before you spend a fortune on preparing the land, only to have your permit request refused or get shut down. (yes, folks, it's the noise, as much as some claim their noise doesn't matter b/c they ride only mx.)

 

[High Lord Gomer]

Recent changes in reuqirements by the insurance company has also prompted some unexpected changes in track design...Jimmy (or Wardy) can probably tell you about some of those. (Including what types of fences must separate the riders from the spectators and what distances they must be from turns and jumps)

 

[Zoomer]

1) If your going to hold Sanctioned (AMA) Races, you might want to get in touch with the sanctioning body, to make sure that there is open week ends for you.
Not that you open, and only get 50 riders showing up (hardly covers the Ins cost)

2) Depending on the area,(and $) you might want to consider a under ground water system to keep dust down. (if theres high traveled roads in the area, We had a problem with that, dust blowing over the nearby I-94 highway) If the ponds/lakes are close enough, get a pump to supply the system. Works great!

3) definitly go to local town,city meetings, let them know what you propose, and get there feed back, keep on there good side, you will need them sooner or later.

Just my .02c worth ;)
Have fun