DANIEL JOSEPH

Damn Yankees
LIFETIME SPONSOR
Sep 14, 2000
502
0
You notice the complaints filed against him were anonymous. People were too cowardly to give their names and how would they know about enviromental damage if they weren't trespassing.
 

Reon

Member
Apr 11, 2000
101
1
Only in America. Am I missing something or do they actually OWN the land the track is built on ? I can understand the thing with the stream/river but not the rest of it ?
 

zcookie49

Seven OUT!
Dec 21, 2000
860
0
maryland resident

I tell you, this is just so ridiculous... being a Maryland resident, this crap happens often. A local track on a nursery was forced to shut down, "because of neighbors claiming noise" on a large acre parcel, cops come out, kids and family riding, and cops start picking apart the premises and shuts track down or fines occur...And now this, This is Travis, come on... If "our beloved Cal Ripken" was up to something on his own property, no ?'s asked... But dirtbikes always have a negative stereo type int this world.. it sucks! If he had a mountain bike trail, there would be no problems, but people bitch and complain, "too loud"... this story states over 100 acres of property shared , its probably awesome being one of those other owners and riding out there....Probably jealous people that are annoyed by anything... Then the tree huggers come out, "it's destroying the earth!" give me a break, when a meteor crashes here one day, lets see who is bitchin then... the earth will be here after all of our asses cash in, and it will continue to exist when man extincts ourselves...Travis's dad is right, he'll be forced out of the county, probably the state. Coming from a small state, it's cool to have Travis about 2 hours away from you, even tho I havent met him, but may at Budds Creek. Travis is like the best thing for role models in dirtbikes, and these people that complain have the idea that dirtbikers are all no good, just like the rep with Harley riders. ... I hope the officials treat Travis more like the + influence he is for the state, sport, and for the publicity in the county.. Maryland got more recognition with the Ravens, then the terps in the final four, Travis will bring more support to the state, but they'll push him out... Thats my thoughts..
 

_SOLO_

LIFETIME SPONSOR
Jan 15, 2000
725
4
...But his love for noisy, dirt-eating bikes has caused trouble in his Davidsonville neighborhood in Anne Arundel County...

...The course is punctuated by mountains of dirt, from 3 feet to 30 feet high...

Wow they certainly have a way with words. I would like to shove one of those "mountains" of dirt down their throats. Oh wow! He used a tractor lets all freak out and crap our pants! Make the stream go back to where it was and make him jump over it. The United States is making me sick ,HOME OF THE FREE MY ____!
 

lawman

LIFETIME SPONSOR
Sep 20, 1999
764
0
of course, this is really about neighbors' complaints about noise, isn't it? 100 acres isn't very big, & as the city creeps out to a place like this, you'll get neighbors complaining about bikes running at 100db+. then the gov't people, responding to the complaints, come out to check & find whatever violations they can to shut the place down & get the neighbors off their backs. it'll happen virtually every place eventually, unless & until the market (us) decides to demand quieter bikes. think it won't happen to you & your riding place? it's happened to travis & it's happening everywhere....
 
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KLX4smoke

LIFETIME SPONSOR
May 16, 2001
159
0
Lawman has it right on. The AMA is right when it says "Loud Pipes Risk Rights" and until every one of us believes it and rides with a quiet pipe, the situation will get worse and worse. This goes for dirt and street bikes.
 

CC_RIDER

LIFETIME SPONSOR
May 15, 2001
154
0
That's bad, sad and a bunch of crap.

If this had been some rancher clearing land to graze his goats, no-one would have said a word.

Soon as someone moves in with a little money, everybody wants to get a part of it. The county, the state, and probably even some of the neighbors will sue over decreased property values due to the "environmental hazard" Travis has created.

Ha! the inspectors couldn't even locate the "damaged" area until they went hiking to find it.

I bet this will cost Travis a hundred thousand before it's all over.:silly:

Side note:
I was practicing at Mosier Valley ( a National class track) Wednesday, and realized there is some new home and apartment construction going on within a couple hundred yards of the track.
How long do you think it will be before someone moves in and complains about the noise and dust, even though the track was there for years before the homes were built. :think
 

CRGuy

Posts Too Much
Member
Nov 14, 2000
234
0
Travis Lives in Annapolis 5 minutes from me i've met him nice guy. He own's alot of property in davidsonville that's how you got the davidsonville part. He build's on his land and He has the right to do so. Enviro freak's can't go telling you what to do on your land. If so then I would tell all the freak's to shovel some dirt and make a track in there yard for me! Maryland Suck's becuase of 99.9% of the population is Old, ignorant, can't drive!:p and whining People! How many MD guy's agree with can't drive?
 

jsned

~SPONSOR~
May 17, 2000
468
0
You can say it is a bunch of crap, and sad and stuff, I agree. But it is also the truth! It has happened to me many times, and has left me with hardly any place to ride. The country side is getting filled with houses here and there, and will get worse. I have lived on dirtbikes my whole life, and thinking back to when I was young I cant remember thinking about wether or not I was annoying anyone or damaging anything. Now that I have a place and family of my own I realize the importance of respecting others. I know we did things we werent suppose to back then but I see kids doing things on there bikes that I cant beleive they are doing. When someone says no one would complain if it were bicycles or sheep farmers doing wrong, that might be true because if it isnt noticable, how would they know about it. Dirtbikes are loud, some more than others, that is a problem. It may seem Im saying we should back down, Im not. But we are a minority and it is becoming a uphill battle. If we dont change our ways (and try to change the ones who think they are above the situation)the government will, and that will probably suck.

REON; about owning land in america. It is impossible to be fair to all,but they have to start somewhere. You have to think what if your next door neighbor decided to turn his property into a landfill, probably wouldnt be good, you think.
 

jeffd

Naïve Texan
N. Texas SP
Jun 9, 2000
1,610
0
Originally posted by CC_RIDER
That's bad, sad and a bunch of crap.

Side note:
I was practicing at Mosier Valley ( a National class track) Wednesday, and realized there is some new home and apartment construction going on within a couple hundred yards of the track.
How long do you think it will be before someone moves in and complains about the noise and dust, even though the track was there for years before the homes were built. :think

Tell me that it isn't so. The sad thing is that you are probably right...
The track has been there for years. Land developers bought the neighboring property for a song (using the track as a leverage for discount I am sure), they will develop it, and use the combined forces of homeowners, renters, and property owners to challenge the existance of track knowing full-well what they bought. It sucks.

jeffd
 

roosteater

~SPONSOR~
Dec 27, 1999
216
0
Originally posted by CRGuy
He build's on his land and He has the right to do so. Enviro freak's can't go telling you what to do on your land. If so then I would tell all the freak's to shovel some dirt and make a track in there yard for me! Maryland Suck's becuase of 99.9% of the population is Old, ignorant, can't drive!:p and whining People! How many MD guy's agree with can't drive?

Oh really? Actually, the relevant jurisdictions CAN tell you what you can and can't do on your own land. If not, why do we have to deal with all the zoning laws? Heck...in most jurisdictions, you can't even build a simple 8x12 storage shed without getting a building permit. You can't start a fire to burn leaves on your property without a permit. You can't reshingle or reside your house without a permit. And you certainly can't do any major land grading on your own property in certain areas without a permit. You certainly can't create an erosion problem that causes silt runoff into a stream used by the rest of the public.

I'm not saying it's right, but it's the way it is. The Pastranas are doing the right thing. They're acknowledging that they were ignorant of the law, inadvertently broke the law, and are now trying their best to come into compliance. In the end they'll likely give up their right to ride there as it probably won't be worth going through the legal battle. They'll probably pick up a nice little spread deep, deep, deep in the country and build again! Just my opinion.

Lawman is correct. This is likely about noise and urban sprawl. As people start moving into less developed areas, they're bound to complain about "noisy" neighbors, even if those "noisy" neighbors have been creating that noise there for years.

It doesn't only affect our sport. It also commonly affects airports and military air bases as well. Case in point....Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, CA.....originally built probably about 80 years ago in the heart of Irvine, CA. At the time, Irvine was nothing but oranges as far as the eye could see. As the years went on, the land around the base became totally developed. The residents surrounding the base petitioned for years to get the base closed down, because it was just too noisy around there, when they were the ones who were building their homes around the already-existing and noisy air station. It's my understanding that this base has since been closed down (since I was last stationed there in 1993). The squadrons that were there have been relocated to various "less-developed" locations. I wonder how long it will take before urban sprawl causes them to move again.

It's pessimistic, but I believe this is something we'll continue to see more and more in our sport. The personal agendas of the masses of people that crowd themselves around our riding areas will likely prevail and they'll succeed in getting riding areas shut down. Think about it....it creates situations where you've got 500 new affluent homeowners in the vicinity of a previously-existing track, which is usually owned/operated by one person. It's a bit much to expect that one person to wage battle against the combined resources of 500 homeowners. It's much easier and financially prudent for them just to cave in, close the track, and sell off the property so another 500 homes can be built.

So, will we lose all of our riding areas? Probably not those that are on private land deep in the country with ample acreage around them to buffer them against urban sprawl. But, my guess is that we're going to see more and more tracks and riding areas closing down because of urban sprawl.

How sad.
 

KWJams

~SPONSOR~
Sep 22, 2000
1,167
4
It is about the limits of reason.

Society by default demands adherence to reasonable behavior.


As cool as it would be to have to have such an awesome place to ride in ones own backyard, does not dismiss the fact that they went beyond reason. :(

Even though this is a "Free Country" there are limits to that freedom --- as it should be!

What if your neighbor decides to turn their property into a sewer lagoon to exercise their freedom?
It would be nice to know they could not do it without public hearings and tests, permits and hoops and hurdles before you could no longer sleep in Saturday mornings with your window open.

There is a right way and a wrong way---the Pastrana's were wrong. IMHO

I believe Guy Cooper had a similar problem until he bought out the complaining neighbor. :cool:
 

oldguy

Always Broken
Dec 26, 1999
9,419
0
Originally posted by SpeedyManiac
Thank god I live in Canada!!!

BTW don't forget to register any and all of your firearms so the canadian govt can pick them up in a couple years from now.

No matter where you live elected officials cowtoe to the monied special interest groups who will pay to get them re-elected
 

Michelle

Sponsoring Member
Oct 26, 1999
1,245
0
Originally posted by SpeedyManiac
Thank god I live in Canada!!!
Speedy, don't think that you're immune because you don't live in America - you're not. Here in NZ we've had rumours flying about riding areas closing down due to noise complaints, never mind the areas have been there for many years. We had one guy go off at us because he'd been trying to sell his home (next door to an MX track) and we'd been riding all day & people wouldn't buy his place due to the noise (new home, old track). We've had people complain about the forestry companies cutting down trees when the sole reason they'd bought the homes had been because of the awesome view overlooking the forest (talk about dumb, the forest is a working one, pine trees, cut down every 25 years - in cycles, so not all the forest goes in one hit). Oh, and we need permits for everything too - including removal of anything on our land, cutting down of any native trees over a certain height (forget it for some of them, you won't get permission), and even some non-native species.

As for the original thread, hmmm, all I can say is dirtbikers are lucky we've got people like the Pastranas involved in their sport. I hope they sort it all out soon.
 

CRGuy

Posts Too Much
Member
Nov 14, 2000
234
0
Originally posted by yzeater
The way that I see it, Pastrana and his friends are helping to airate the soil by loosening it up with their back tires.
exactly that's what I was looking for. Iwasn't slick enough to think of it myself.
I am going to the property this tuesday afternoon to look at it. I know where it is. I am friend's with Travis but almost never see or talk to him. Whenever there's time I try to catch him and ride BMX bike's with him. Done it once He out ran me the whole way around annapolis. We rode in a park. He's very good at riding even can do a backflip and land it. Maybe when I get on topic again I can say that I might be able to ride there? Almost impossibe if DNR is going to shut it down! Damn (it) No Riders:p that's DNR's slogan!
 

CRGuy

Posts Too Much
Member
Nov 14, 2000
234
0
Yeah department Of Natural Resources They are always called out to this place I ride at. They show up in there caprice and try to be a cop and then they will lecture me on how I am screwing up the enviroment and thing's like that. Can they even shut places down and kick me off? or is it the cops that can only do it if I am a nosie problem?
 

KWJams

~SPONSOR~
Sep 22, 2000
1,167
4
Good points. a stretch maybe, but good points.

There is probably some bureaucrat somewhere whose job it is to disperse funds for low impact trails.

Working with the system is the only way to win in the long run.

When I read that Travis' Dad was a contractor their credibility ended there.

He can't bid a job without piles of permits and documents.
 
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