Motocross track is a go Lowe's store is asked to pay $160M

But the owner, scolded for his head start on construction, can't rev and ride every day.

By CHUIN-WEI YAP, Times Staff Writer
Published September 28, 2007

DADE CITY - Robert Wood wanted a motorcycle racetrack for his family and friends at his 40-acre property on Auton Road.

His neighbors opposed it, but he fought his way to scoring permission from the County Commission in November.

And then he nearly squandered his hard-won victory by building most of the track and holding what he described as "practice" sessions even before county planners could review his construction plans.

For that, he was cited and fined $500 in court earlier this month.

On Thursday, standing before the county's top staff planners, he almost lost the whole 8-acre motocross deal.

"What makes you think we should approve any of your plans?" County Administrator John Gallagher asked Wood, after mentioning the Pasco Times story that had highlighted the issue.

"Do you believe everything you read in the paper?" Wood asked.

"Sure I do," Gallagher said.

Zoning administrator Debra Zampetti confirmed Wood had been found guilty of building without a permit.

"But if the plans are approved and he pays the fine, it's a done deal," she said.

Not for Leonard Johnson, attorney for Sid Larkin & Sons, one of Wood's neighbors.

He wasn't happy that the conditions laid on Wood's track didn't address practice sessions. The commission said Wood can hold 12 racing events a year, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday through Sunday.

"If you have an unlimited amount of practice, we could be talking 365 days a year," Johnson said. "It's a significant issue that's not addressed in the conditions."

In the end, Wood got his racetrack - but his wallet was $500 lighter and he was saddled with an additional condition.

He can now hold practice sessions from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday to Sunday only.

On Thursday, the Development Review Committee also got tangled in a legal problem that could require a proposed Land O'Lakes Lowe's Home Improvement store to pay for a $160-million bridge as part of U.S. 41 that would fly over State Road 54.

It's unusual for an establishment of that size - a single 166,000-square-foot store - to shoulder such a massive payback in road improvements.

The reason: New state laws that trigger big-ticket projects, if the development happens to be the first in the area to push past the tipping point for existing road usage. Under the old set of laws, Lowe's would have been required to pay for only about $1.5-million worth of road improvements.

Ben Harrill, the lawyer representing Lowe's, went before the planning committee to ask for an exemption. But Gallagher feared that other developments at that hot-growth junction might ask for the same exemption.

They put off a decision Thursday. County staff plan to meet with the state Department of Transportation to see if alternative requirements could be legally worked out.

Chuin-Wei Yap can be reached at 813 909-4613 or cyap@sptimes.com

[Last modified September 27, 2007, 21:58:51]