Northpinellas: Bicycle park plan hits roadblock

Bicycle park plan hits roadblock

The Southwest Florida Water Management District denies Oldsmar permission to build a BMX racing facility.

By ED QUIOCO

OLDSMAR -- BMX riders may have to wait a little longer before they can race their bicycles at an officially sanctioned track in the city.

Oldsmar officials have accepted a grant from the American Bicycle Association to build a BMX racing facility on state-owned land adjacent to fields at Canal Park. But the plans have hit a snag.

The Southwest Florida Water Management District has denied the city permission to build the track. Swiftmud's approval was one of the last hurdles the city had to overcome for the project, and city officials are not sure what the next step is now.

"At this point, I don't know what we will do," said Lynn Rives, the city's Parks and Recreation director. "It's in a state of flux right now."

The city's plan calls for building a 1,200-foot, dirt track on 5 acres of land next to the football and soccer fields at the sports complex on Tampa Road. But the 5 acres are part of a vacant, 75-acre tract owned by Swiftmud.

The agency has designated that tract as the home for "spoil disposal" of the Lake Tarpon Outfall Canal, built to control flooding in the Lake Tarpon area by connecting the large lake to the top of Old Tampa Bay, said Michael Molligan, Swiftmud spokesman.

That means should sediment clog the canal, it will be dredged and spread on the large tract of land next to the park's fields.

"If we have to dredge it, we have to put that dredging material somewhere," Molligan said. "That is the purpose of that land. It would be inconsistent to have some type of facility like they are talking about."

In 1987, Swiftmud donated to the city about 46 acres, which is the current site of recreational facilities at Canal Park. The agency held on to the adjacent 75 acres to be used as spoil disposal and entered into a maintenance agreement with the city.

The agreement allows the city to use the 75 acres for passive recreation such as a nature trail. A BMX racing facility does not qualify, Molligan said.

"Everything is developed around there and there is really nowhere else to put that dredging material," Molligan said.

The city accepted a deal from the American Bicycle Association in August after being wooed by the association and a rival association. The two sides one-upped each other until the grant packages they offered more than doubled.

The National Bicycle League eventually dropped its proposal and the city took the ABA grant of about $50,600 in services and materials. Included in the grant are $9,000 for the track's dirt, $7,500 for the track design and construction, and parking area improvements.

The deal essentially means the association will design and build the track and give it to the city in return for being able to sanction the races, Rives said.

One option could be to squeeze the track onto the 46 acres owned by the city. Officials have to wait for a survey of the park to determine if there is enough space to do that, Rives said.

"We just have to wait and see what happens," Rives said.