Palm Beach County seeks proposals to build, run motorsports complex at 20-Mile Bend

WEST PALM BEACH — The Palm Beach County Commission is moving ahead with plans to bring a motorsports complex to 128 acres of county-owned land at 20-Mile Bend.

Commissioners agreed Tuesday to issue a formal request for proposals to have a private developer build an off-highway vehicle park, a raceway for drag racing or a facility for both.

The county has considered using the land for an OHV park for nearly a decade. Since June, Commissioner Sara Baxter has championed plans to make the site the area's new home for drag racing. The sport has been without a local track after Palm Beach County International Raceway near Jupiter closed in April 2022.

The commission this summer had its staff issue a request for information to gauge interest from private companies about building the complex.

The request only drew responses from two organizations: the National Hot Rod Association, which issued a letter in support of a car racing facility, and the National Motocross League, which submitted revised plans for a 40-acre motocross park and 80-acre drag racing facility.

Commissioners said they supported bringing a new racing facility to Palm Beach County through a public-private partnership, not the county building and even operating the complex itself.

Vice Mayor Maria Marino said the county was struggling to fund capital projects and could only contribute by leasing the land to the developer, who would have to be responsible for the construction, operation and legal liabilities of the facility. The county has projected a funding deficit for projects of $732 million over the next five years.

“We don't have the dollars to construct this,” said Marino, whose north county district included Palm Beach International Raceway. “I would not be in support of a facility that the county has to build. This has to be a private enterprise.”

The commission directed its staff to open a request for proposals for all potential uses of the site and contact area farmers and residents to review their concerns.

20-Mile Bend site discussed as motorsports hub for at least a decade

The effort to place an off-road park on 20-Mile Bend is more than a decade old.

Studies done in 2013 and 2021 called for an off-highway vehicle facility based on safety concerns and complaints about off-road vehicles being used on main roads and environmentally sensitive land.

The studies found the 20-Mile Bend as an appropriate site for the park that would include wooded trails, recreational mud areas and beginner and intermediate and advanced tracks.

A 2022 request for proposals, however, went unanswered.

The county staff told commissioners they didn't identify any “fatal flaws" with placing a new auto raceway on the property but that its size and mucky soil could present challenges to placing a drag racing strip.

The commission has been cool to an idea to use the Pahokee airport as a temporary site for drag racing. The site's physical limitations and the need for federal approvals make the plan unrealistic, officials said last month.

Requests for information on raceway park drew two qualified responses

The county’s request in June asked for information on the design, construction and maintenance of a publicly accessible park for safe motorized vehicle racing use. The facility could include a drag strip, a road-racing circuit course, a kart-racing track and pit areas.

Staff members told commissioners it received nine responses, but seven came from individual riders, not qualified builders or operators.

NHRA, the sanctioning body for drag racing in the United States, sent a letter to the commission in support of building a new drag racing facility in Palm Beach County.

It said an auto racing complex would boost the county's economy with jobs during construction, and operations serving South Florida drag-racing fans and attracting a national crowd for events during the winter months. The closest two raceways to Palm Beach County are in Brandon and suburban Orlando, both about 175 miles away.

NHRA said it is having a third party create an economic impact report but did not identify possible developers or owners.

The National Motocross League submitted a business plan to turn 40 acres of the 120-acre site into a facility for off-highway vehicles, including ATVs, side-by-sides, motocross bikes and dirt karts.

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The remaining 80 acres would be used for another company to develop a drag racing facility, the league said.

“We can easily use the entire 120 acres for our Dirt Racing Facility but in light of public response and desire to add drag racing, we believe it will be a great benefit to the county to do both on the same property,” the application said.

NML, a two-year-old Delaware company, said it secured financial backing from a creditor that will fund the track and the first year of operation.

It estimated the facility would bring revenues of $14.7 million in the first year the track is completed and $25.5 million in operating profit by the fifth year.

Advocates differ on what types of racing 20-Mile Bend site can handle

Tyler Glock, an advocate for off-road racing, told commissioners during the meeting his groups have waited a decade for the stalled project to happen at 20-Mile Bend.

Glock urged commissioners to move forward with plans by the National Motocross League but cast doubts on whether a drag-racing track can be built on the property.

“You're just assuming that you can lay half a mile of concrete across a swamp land, which isn't even possible,” said Glock, a dirt road rider. “There's a reason this land is designated for this.”

“Don't waste your time. Don't waste any more of our time,” Glock added. “We want our area to ride.”

Madelyn Marconi, a Palm Beach Gardens resident who grew up going to the old raceway and who has spoken often at hearings about the track’s future, told commissioners that a raceway would be more profitable and would attract tourism revenue for the county.

“To be able to attract investors we need to have something that can really make money,” Marconi said.

“This property could sincerely be used as a motorsports facility to bring family and friends out there to race and just have fun. Just the same way we did with Moroso Motorsports until it closed in 2022,” she added.

Valentina Palm covers Royal Palm Beach, Wellington, Loxahatchee and other western communities in Palm Beach County for The Palm Beach Post. Email her at vpalm@pbpost.com and follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @ValenPalmB. Support local journalism: Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Motorsports complex at 20-Mile Bend takes step closer to happening