Double Gate ATV Race Track & Recreation is proposing to bring an ATV track, trails, paintball, repair shop and RV park to the quiet town of Flemington.
Here’s what you need to know:
Blitch Plantation, LTD and International Property Services, the owners of about 240 acres located at the intersection of Hwy 329 and Hwy 318 in the quiet town of Flemington, FL, are proposing an ATV racetrack, ATV trails, motorcycle/ATV sales and repair facility, 40 RV parking spaces, offices, and the ability to hold other events such as weddings and paintball games. The establishment will be called Double Gate ATV Park. It is located within Marion County’s Farmland Preservation Area. A Land Use Change Amendment (2020-L05) and Special Use Permit Application are before the County and will be heard by the Commissioners June 17th at 2pm.
Impacts
Here’s a video from Hogwaller – a facility of very similar description in Palatka
- Noise: racing ATV’s are LOUD. Everyone in a 5-mile radius will hear them under some conditions. Trails will border residential properties. The proposed buffer is insufficient.
- Environment: this property is in a flood zone and a spring protection area. There will be mud, erosion and pollution of the waterways. Wildlife will be adversely impacted. The application addresses NONE of the environmental impacts. The proposed race track location is in the flood zone.
- Traffic: expect to see more vehicles and larger vehicles pulling trailers.
- Crowds: large events may bring alcohol use, littering and increased arrests.
- Safety: fire and ambulance service needs will increase.
- Quality of Life: this area is low-density residential and farms. There are many houses of worship. This has potential to
completely change the peaceful and rural character of the area.
Red Flag Means STOP
If you believe that this project is inconsistent with a location in the Farmland Preservation Area, tell your elected officials NOW. The Zoning and Planning Commission meets June 1. The County Commissioners meet June 17th. Several ATV race tracks have been proposed in Marion County and were DENIED because of community opposition. You have a voice and a choice.
Community Support is Key
Kimberleigh Dinkins of Marion County Growth Services reports that several similar ATV Racing projects were proposed in the county in the last two decades.
All were denied because the community showed up
and spoke out against them.
Now is the time.
This spot zoning proposal is totally wrong for this area, especially in the farmland protection area. There are many places in commercial and industrial areas where this type of recreation would be appropriate NOT here in Flemington!
Is this area a wetland if so it should be protected my the state I use to work for Environmental and the wetlands were very protected I cannot think of who you could contact to find out.
Noise pollution from ATVs is a nationwide concern and it’s a subject that has not been adequately addressed by Marion County staff in this matter.
According to the Society of Automotive Engineers, the sound generated by most of today’s All-Terrain Vehicles can range anywhere from 85 to 100 decibels. Sounds above 85dB are harmful and can cause hearing loss.
For the sake of reference, sound pressure roughly doubles for every three decibels… so a typical off-the-shelf ATV with stock mufflers is about 20 TIMES LOUDER THAN A GARBAGE DISPOSAL.
Why so loud? An ATV engine is almost fully exposed to the air. There’s no insulation or shielding to baffle or absorb the combustion noise. Most ATV stock mufflers are simple, light-weight, and do little to mute noise.
So here’s the problem.
According to the Marion County “Maximum permissible sound levels; land use acoustic categories,” the sound level limit for a noise sensitive A-1 zone at any time is 55dB. And the Maximum permissible sound level is increased to 65dB for the proposed “Rural Recreation” zoning district.
65dB decibels a LONG WAY from the 95dB these vehicles typically generate.
For example, according to iac Acoustics, 95dB (the maximum sound now permitted in most national ATV competitions) is NEARLY 30 TIMES LOUDER than the 65dB allowed by Marion County.
I live in the Saddle Hill subdivision, which is a little more than a mile from the proposed development. And I can tell you from personal experience that in recent weeks, for whatever reason, motorcycles and ATVs have been active on the property in question, and the sound has been extremely annoying. It can be heard indoors, with the air conditioning on, from more than a mile away.
According to your staff report, the proposed “site will be developed to minimize offsite noise impacts” and the “plainly audible” provisions of the County Code.
My question to staff is… How do you rectify the 30 decibel difference between Marion County’s permissible sound level of 65dB… and the REAL WORLD sound level of 95dB that these vehicles actually generate?
Have you done acoustic testing? And if you allow this project to move forward, how will you enforce the noise ordinance?
Thank you so much for this informed comment. We encourage you to show up at the June 1 and June 17 meetings and read this into the record!
How could this even be considered? My family has been living here since approximately 1910. As a 4th generation resident of north Marion county this is absurd. A couple new jobs and some extra tax revenue should not be held higher than farmland preservation. The shear pollution from oil spills and consistent noise levels will affect my family and countless others around. How can I set a positive example for my niece, nephews and soon to be child when on the other side of our barbwire fence host dozens of people binge drinking, fighting, playing loud music all while destroying the land and environment that has been worked, hunted and preserved by those who came before us? My grandfather Carl Novinger always preached to my brother and I about the responsibilities that come with taking over the farm. He always said it usually take two or three generations to build something special and one to destroy it. I always promised him that I would not fail and would protect and continue the practices held before me. I ask please do not be the generation that destroys this beautiful peace of life just for some outsider corporation to turn a profit. Sincerely a concerned citizen.
As a resident in the Flemington area, I 100% oppose this idea. We have family’s, farms, and churches. A mud hole and race track is ABSOLUTELY NOT needed nor wanted in Flemington. The property in which this is planning to be established on is in the backyard of where my family lives. We plan to raise our children on our farm and want to set great examples for them and adding a mud hole, with loud music, drinking, and wildness is not what is needed for our lovely community. PLEASE DO NOT DO THIS TO OUR PRECIOUS FLEMINGTON. We love our little town and don’t want to see it ruined.
Not appropriate there are lots of ugly areas
off 441that could work without scarring the farmland
This is an outrageous plan! How could it ever even be considered???
The very idea of creating such blight in Flemington is an insult to the entire concept of the Farmland Preservation Area and demonstrates the complete and utter disregard Blitch Plantation Ltd. has for the lives and peaceful rural lifestyle of everyone living within miles of this proposed abomination. Approval of this cancerous development by the Zoning and Planning Commission and the County Commissioners would be nothing less than a total dereliction of their duty to uphold the very spirit and intent of the Farmland Preservation Area and would open the door to further erosion of our irreplaceable farmland protections. It would be hard to imagine a more inappropriate, incompatible and irresponsible use for this land than a noisy ATV race track!
This is an awful idea. As for me and my family we are against this. We grew up here and nearby and dearly love the environment as it is. There is a sense of fellowship and safety with all the local farms surrounding. We attended a local church here in Flemington and would hate to see the impact it would have on the community to have a mud bog locally. The people that are attracted to these mud bogs are often young-irresponsible teenagers that are drinking under age and often vandalize the surrounding area while in that physical state. My family would be directly impacted by this bog joining Flemington in a negative way. Our generations to come would not have the ability to have the quiet and peaceful upbringing we had without the mud bog. Stop the bog. Let it be somewhere else. Leave Flemington as the church going, peaceful, and quiet community it has always been cherished as!
I’m sorry, but I don’t see how you can allow this in the Farmland Preservation Area when you won’t even allow landowners to separate their own land into small (1 acre) segments for their own family to build on to live. I understand that there is a zoning request. But it’s not really preservation if a segment in the middle is excluded. Building family homes supports Farmland Preservation a great deal more than an ATV playground.
Just think about this…The ability to get cell phone service to report emergencies is little to none. So someone would have to make it to a “landline” increasing the timeframe for emergency workers to respond. The response time is already high. 15 minutes for an ambulance to Flemington is NOT an exaggeration. Increasing the chances of accidents and increasing response time for emergencies is NOT A SMART CHOICE!
This will effect more than the people that live in the area. The stress this will produce on local livestock and our horses will be unimaginable. In the low land areas especially the prone to flooding areas may not be ideal for farming or building but these special wetlands are important areas for our ecosystem these are usually the beginning areas of our watershed. The native grass and plants serve as erosion control and a natural filter for our water system. This proposed idea of a park will eliminate that. The effects at first may not seem like much but could be detrimental to our future. The fact that Florida has allowed as many mud parks as they have is astonishing. The natural Florida is disappearing at an alarming rate due to many reasons. Do we need another reason to destroy our wetlands?
What you describe is exactly why the Farmland Preservation Area was created. Please show up or email your comments to the Zoning hearing June 1 and the County Commissioners Hearing June 17. A strong showing by the community will make a big impression.
The wonder and beauty of our majestic horse farms have brought favor and recognition to Marion county from far and wide. Though we may at times take it for granted, this incredible landscape is what brought many of us here, drawn by the alluring charm and breathtaking beauty that surrounds us.
We absolutely must vigorously protect this precious resource so unique to Marion county. It’s preservation merits a community effort, to be made an unwavering priority.
Once it’s gone, it’s gone forever. And Ocala becomes just another town on the map.
My wife and I drove by the HogWaller facility last Sunday. Extreme number of vehicles towing ATV’s and monster trucks clogged the roads surrounding HogWaller, which is on a fairly major highway. I can’t imagine the traffic congestion that would be going through Flemington if this were to be built.
HFF Please post details of how to attend the meetings. I don’t understand the information in the link!
I am the owner of the property that is only 300ft. away from this proposed “park”. I have a custom site built home on the property that was constructed in 1996. I am extremely worried about the flooding of my property and my home as the property they are going to develop already drains on to my property in hurricane type rains. I have already mailed a letter to the county to be read at the commissioners meeting on Mon. June 1st at 5:30. I will also be attending via my computer and plan to have my comments heard at the appropriate time , as I am disabled and do not have a car. I have lived in Marion County for 45 years, 24 years at this address. This was to be my “forever” home and now my home and land are in danger of being destroyed by this project.
I live in Saddle Hill subdivision and just finished building a beautiful log cabin on a wooded lot at the corner of 88th avenue road and 187 th Lane. My wife and I improved this property with the intention of retiring here and passing this serene homestead on to our children. Lately we have heard what we thought were motocross motorcycles on our property, only to find out that it was actually atv activity at the proposed park. We could here this from inside our log home. The thought of having this noise on a regular basis is terrifying and would dramatically affect the quality of life in our neighborhood. We chose to move to this location because of the quiet rolling horse pastures and the ability to live in a peaceful neighborhood. This atv park does not fit with the surrounding area and I’m sure would become a major issue for the county should it be approved.
As a resident of this neighborhood I beg you not to approve this land use change amendment!!! Thank you for your attention to this matter!!
MANY ARE 2 CYCLE LIKE WEED WHACKERS AND CHAIN SAWS NOT 4 STROKE LIKE THE NEW OUTBOARD MOTORS.. EVER HEARD A MODEL AIRPLANE FLY?
I can’t imagine what to good people of Flemington must be thinking right now?!!!! Their quiet, beautiful community!! And their churches on Sunday morning?!!! The Chi institute!! I won’t live .75 miles from this. With all that’s going on in the World- I live here for a reason. Peace and quiet. A low crime rate. Nature….. This is so wrong!!!!
While we did not grow up in the Flemington area but we chose our property because it was in the farmland preservation area. We believed the area would be able to retain the beauty and peacefulness we desired. We (my husband and I) are totally opposed to the rezoning of the property at the corner of 318 and 329 for use as an ATV park.
Marion County, FL encompasses 1,667 sq mi; the Farm Preservation Area is 1 sq mi. Why here? It is so inconsistent with what our county commissioners and citizens wanted when the Farmland Protection Area was enacted.
According to Wikipedia “Farmland protection refers to programs in the United States, operated mostly at state and local levels by government agencies or private entities such as land trusts, that are designed to limit conversion of agricultural land to other uses that otherwise might have been more financially attractive to the land owner.”
Another quote “Locally protected farms benefit the environment
By keeping soils healthy through conservation practices, the effects of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change can be offset. Open farm and forest lands are important for the recharge of ground water in our communities.”
Again, is this not what our county commissioners and citizens wanted when the Farmland Protection Area was enacted?
When my husband John and I first drove along 225 and 225A, it was love at first sight. We said, “this is where we want to live and retire”. We bought a house in the Saddle Hill Subdivision of Reddick and are only about 2 miles from the proposed development. The wildlife and peace and quiet would be disrupted. The horses and cattle are all around us, not to mention, deer, foxes, turkeys. Bringing this ATV Race Track to the area would disrupt all of this and only create noise from the ATVs, loud music, the wrong element of people and pollution. It would disrupt all of this beauty and harm the natural resources and horse farms that not only make a living here but also enjoy the quality of life we do.
PLEASE PLEASE do the right thing and not let this go through!
THIS IS SO WRONG. WE HAVE TO PROTECT OUR FARM LAND OUR HOMES AND OUR ANIMALS
This Land Use Change Amendment (2020-L05) and Special Use Permit Application Must Be Denied. I am completely opposed to the project in any form. The beauty of our farmland protection area is under attach with projects such as this.
Consider the negative impact of this kind of property use on local police resources – there is no police stations in Reddick or Flemington Florida there is only a small Sheriff trailer in Reddick Florida.
Consider increased medical resource needs – there are no medical resources within 15 to 20 miles of Flemington, FL
Consider litter and trash problems- this would ruin the area and totally destroy the environment – the type of people this sort of activity appeals to would not protect our animal land friendly environment and the noise would harm all our animals.
We are concerned. Our family, as well as our neighbors, chose to retire to the Flemington/Shiloh area because of its quiet, low-stress, low-traffic and pastoral qualities, as well as the beauty of its trees, farms and wildlife. The noise resulting from the proposed ATV park alone would not only disrupt the peace and quiet, it would mask the beautiful nature sounds of the local birds (including sand hill cranes), frogs, and other critters, and would probably cause even more stress on wildlife activity and habitats. Also in our area, there is an equine rehabilitation farm, which we are certain would be affected adversely by the noise and environmental pollution. An ATV park would diminish the preservation of our farmland area and would negate the meaning of its name (Shiloh meaning “peace”). Please, do not accept the land use change amendment (2020-L05) or the special use permit application for the good of all its residents.