Motocross track grinds to a halt
BY AARON SANDERFORD, Lincoln Journal Star  8-17-04

http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2004/08/17/local/10053772.txt

RURAL DENTON - Motorcycle and all-terrain vehicle engines revved
like screaming Weed Eaters as riders wove through high-banked turns
and stirred dust climbing to jump a hill.

Dr. David Samani's private motocross track at 8800 Kolbrook Road,
which Lincoln riders have called their closest reasonable option,
hummed with life.

A mile away, in an acreage subdivision among the rolling hills
southwest of Lincoln, the sounds were easily discernable.

Amid the country bustle of crickets, bugs and birds - and at about
the same volume - the revving engines intruded.
Country-dwellers who moved here for the ambience have protested
loudly, blocking Samani's efforts at the county level to make his
track commercial or a club.

Even after the Lancaster County Board decided against pursuing a
civil suit against Samani for improper use of zoned land, the fight
continued.

"It's a very penetrating type of noise," said Don Helmuth of Audubon
Nebraska. "On Spring Creek it sounds like there are chainsaws on the
prairie."

Samani said Monday that he had received a letter Friday afternoon
from the Lincoln Building and Safety Department that said he must
stop all riding on his land.

The letter from Mike Merwick, director of Building and Safety, calls
the current use of his property improper for agriculturally zoned
land.

It disagrees with Samani's assertions that people who ride there are
"friends and family," dismissing that as a non-factor even if proved
true.

And the letter threatens misdemeanor prosecution of Samani if anyone
rides on his land after Wednesday.

"I can't believe it's gone this far," Samani said. "They even told
me I couldn't ride there, on my own property."

Dave Wallace, who rides at Samani's track, pondered the loss, saying
he'd have to spend more time in the car and less on his bike to get
to the nearest motocross tracks in Ashland and Friend.

Many riders prefer the track at Milford Lake near Manhattan, Kan.

"People in county government are using their position and their
resources to get what they want, not what the public wants," Wallace
said. "I guess we're back to square one, not having anywhere to
ride.

"It would be like if someone shut down the soccer fields in Lincoln:
Kids would need a place to play like we need one to ride."

County Commissioner Larry Hudkins, up for re-election this fall,
said the County Board had told the county attorney's office it
didn't want to sue or prosecute.

Hudkins expressed fears that strict interpretation of zoning
ordinances could lead to actions against farmers running tractors or
all-terrain vehicles and could meddle with the private use of
private land.

Audubon Nebraska, a Samani neighbor, already is pursuing a special
permit because it fears it might be violating zoning ordinances by
charging for classes, he said. Most commercial uses other than
agriculture are outlawed.

"Unless there was a clear violation, my position was we had no
business getting involved," Hudkins said. "I guess the county
attorney takes his own actions."

County Attorney Gary Lacey declined to comment Monday, saying he
couldn't speak about an ongoing criminal investigation, even if the
allegation was improper use of land.

Neighbors, led by David and Cindy Cochran, have filed a complaint
against Samani, alleging he flouted the law by operating a
commercial, recreational or club track, all violations of zoning
ordinances.

The property's owner is listed as Husker Off-Road Club, in care of
Samani, and the club, which the document alleges is a for-profit
organization, operates a Web site for the group and track.

But the complaint itself is not a public record, according to state
law. The Journal Star received a copy from an anonymous source.
Neighbors recognized it as the complaint they had signed and sent to
Building and Safety.

The document says neighbors sent people to the track to see what it
would take for a rider to become a friend or family member of
Samani.

The documents allege Samani said only that he charged no membership
fees and that the new rider could donate. That, the complaint
argued, is not friendship.

Neighbors fumed at memories of more than 15 riders on the track at
once. Independent checks over several weeks by the Journal Star
found four to 10 riders.

Samani disagreed with assertions that he opened his track to more
than friends and family and said he planned to sue the county. The
county attorney's office previously had suggested that he could ride
with friends and family there.

Several riders interviewed last month at the track said they were
friends of Samani, who has declined to describe his definition of
friendship.

Motocross riders said they had to ride somewhere and they would
prefer to avoid using construction sites and other illegal avenues.

Samani said he had hoped to create a place where the fast-growing
motor sport could catch on. His goal, he said, was to share a sport
he loves on a safe, professional-grade track.

Wallace and other riders said they felt attacked by neighbors who
visited the track, acted as if they were friends, asked questions
and wanted nothing to do with it.

Audubon Nebraska operates its Spring Creek Prairie nearby, he said,
but neighbors aren't complaining about its use of land.

"Prairie doesn't make noise," said David Cochran, who lives on 160
nearby wooded acres he and his wife, Cindy, bought in the 1980s.

But regional businesses might feel an impact if the track closes,
said Rod Yanagida of Rod's Outdoor Power, U.S. 77 and Saltillo Road.

Rod's has sold more dirt bikes since Samani's private track opened,
he said, especially used motocross bikes to young people.

"I can't believe they'd stop a guy who was gracious enough to spend
his own money to develop something for a sport he loves, pay big
bucks to have a professional design team develop three tracks out
there and not let him use it privately," he said. "That's
unbelievable."

Samani has more than $500,000 invested in the land, track and
maintenance equipment.

Yanagida said he understood neighbors' concerns about traffic,
saying race times could be hectic, but he said the chainsaws he sold
were louder than the bikes.

From the Cochrans' deck, the sound is far from slight, David Cochran
said. They used to read on the deck that overlooks a natural pond
and faces the track.

"It's not how loud it is," he said. "It's the character of the
sound, actually the noise.

"I wanted solitude and nature, to be out in the country with the
wildlife and the bugs. This property is very personal to us."

Cindy Cochran said she disliked gardening when the engines were
going, that she prayed for bad weather so they'd stop and she could
step outside or open a window.

To be honest, she said, a lot of neighbors in the hills near the
track are worried about property values; what if they wanted to
subdivide?

"We were out here enjoying life, and this got plopped down here."

Both sides said they wanted motocross riders to find a place to
ride. County officials have said they would work to find a place,
even starting a committee.

So far Samani's received few viable suggestions, and he's angry.

He said he tried to include the neighbors, but they wanted no part.
Neighbors said he included them only after he'd started work on the
track and treated the track as something that could not be fought.

Said Wallace, the motocross rider: "If somebody walked in from
another state and heard both sides of the story, it looks unfair.
Things aren't what they seem."

Neighbors, though bracing for the land-use fight to be settled in
court, were giddy Monday with anticipation of quiet.

Martha Hall, a neighbor who signed the complaint, read a statement
that said neighbors were pleased with the county's decision.

A motocross track is an inappropriate use of ag land, she said.

"We wish Dr. Samani well in his search for a new location," she
said, "and we are looking forward to our neighborhood and the
surrounding prairie land returning to the peace and quiet that has
traditionally been its hallmark."

Reach Aaron Sanderford at 473-7225 or asanderford@;journalstar.com.

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