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Round and round go arguments over track
By ANNE LINDBERG, Times Staff Writer PINELLAS PARK -- Council members turned down an entrepreneur's request last year to open a dirt motocross track at Sunshine Speedway because neighbors objected to the noise and dirt. Entrepreneur Frank Valente asked the courts to overturn that decision. It's unclear how long that decision will take. In the meantime, Valente cleared land, moved dirt around and, apparently, built the track. He also created a Web site telling people about the track and the plans he had for racing and lessons. People were soon riding motorbikes there. Pinellas Park heard about Valente's activities. The police, guided by the city attorney, got the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office to take aerial photographs of the site. Then a police officer saw people riding there on motorcycles. Last Wednesday, police Sgt. Gene LaPouttre accused a motorcycle rider of violating a city zoning ordinance. Lee Atkinson, the attorney who represents Valente, declined to discuss whether his client is operating a motocross racing business at the track. Instead, he said Valente had certain rights to use the property he was leasing for "himself, his family and guests." "Clearly, as the owner of a lease on that piece of property, Mr. Valente has certain rights to use it," Atkinson said. Pinellas Park has shown him no evidence, he said, that Valente was using the property illegally. Until then, the police should leave him alone. The Web site announcing the track's offerings are no evidence that Valente is operating a business, he said, because Valente has the right to tell people what will happen when he's able to start scheduling events. As for the aerial photos, the police can do whatever they want so long as they are up in the air. But whether the police can come on to leased property is a "question we may have to litigate in the future."
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From the Times South Pinellas desks |
