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Park owner seeks variance for ATV access
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FarkPIEDMONT -- The owner of local all-terrain-vehicle park says he could eliminate many illegal off-roading activities if the Meade County Commission grants him a variance for a special trail that would lead from the park up into U.S. Forest Service land.
But not all area residents are sold on the idea.
Jesse Jurrens, owner of Top 50 Rally Park in Piedmont, made his case at a public meeting hosted by the Meade County Commission at Stagebarn Elementary in Piedmont Friday night.
Jurrens spoke to a crowd of ATV users, local landowners and the Meade County Commission.
He said having one trail leading up to Forest Service land would eliminate much of the illegal off-roading that currently exists in the area, because the trail would give riders one main entrance.
"It keeps them on a focused trail system and not in the neighborhoods where they're not supposed to ride," he said about the proposed trail system.
Larry Ebbert of Piedmont said he didn't think the trail would necessarily prevent riders from entering wherever they want, as they do now.
"If people don't use your facility, they're still going to use the road ditch," he said.
Jurrens said the trail would also promote tourism and bring money into the area, because riders who came to ride the trail would need to buy gas and other supplies at area businesses.
The trail in question would run along the properties of Raymond Walz and Kathleen and Dan Hoskins of Piedmont.
Walz said during the meeting he would prefer that Jurrens get permission from the Forest Service before building, even if the Meade County Commission granted him the variance. Walz later said he is against allowing the trail.
Kathleen Hoskins is also against granting the variance Jurrens is requesting, because she doesn't want noisy ATV riders going past her property and also because she has concerns for area wildlife.
"I'm concerned about wildlife being pressed into a smaller and smaller space," she said in an interview before the meeting.
The land that the trail would lead up to has not been designated off-limits by the Forest Service, but that could change when the agency's off-road travel management plan is approved.
Nancy Hilding of Black Hawk said the commission should wait until the land is designated by the Forest Service before making a decision about granting the variance.
"This is sort of putting the cart before the horse," she said.
Specifically, Jurrens is requesting the Meade County Commission grant him a variance for a 12-foot wide road leading from the service road west of Interstate 90 near Piedmont up to the Forest Service land.
Jurrens asked for the variance months ago, but commissioners held the public meeting Friday to determine what residents think of the idea.
The half-mile trail would start at Jurrens' Top 50 Rally Park in Piedmont, wind under the service road, go across the Covered Wagons Resort and up along a section line to the forest.
He had to ask for the variance in order to build the special trail, which he says will also accommodate ATV riders, mountain bikers and others.
A regulation right-of-passage road is 24 feet wide, which is why the variance is needed.
The commission can approve the variance, take no action or vacate the section line, meaning a road could not be built at all.
To close the meeting, Meade County Commissioner Dean Wink said the commission would likely make a decision at a meeting in February.
"We need to make a decision on it," he said. "I think we've gotten a sense of how the community feels on this."
Contact Ryan Woodard at 394-8412 or ryan.woodard@rapidcityjournal.com
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