Polk County commissioners reject racetrack plan near Frostproof

Paul Nutcher, The Ledger
·4 min read
Residents dressed in red t-shirts line up to speak in opposition to a racetrack proposed by Gary Young of Melbourne. Young, seated in the front row, second from the right, had hoped to move forward with his dream of racing cars on his property, but commissioners rejected the plan.
Residents dressed in red t-shirts line up to speak in opposition to a racetrack proposed by Gary Young of Melbourne. Young, seated in the front row, second from the right, had hoped to move forward with his dream of racing cars on his property, but commissioners rejected the plan.

Polk County commissioners voted 5-0 on Tuesday to overturn the Planning Commission’s approval of a conditional use for a private racetrack on the south shore of Lake Walk In Water.

Dressed in red t-shirts, the residents and business owners from the communities around lake had asked the County Commissioners to vote against a private racetrack.

“That’s what we were aiming for was all five,” said resident Brenda Lang after the hearing.

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Lang and fellow Walk In Water Lake area residents had organized a petition drive, held two community meetings, posted protest signs, hired an attorney and requested an appeal of the Polk County Planning Commission since its Oct. 5 recommendation to approve the track.

Gary Young of Melbourne had hoped to move forward on his dream to race cars with his friends during his retirement at the property.

Similarly, to the October planning commission meeting, more than a dozen people lined up at Tuesday's hearing to express their concerns prior to the decision. They said birds, including a bald eagle nest, plants and fish as well as livestock on nearby agricultural lands would be impacted by such a project.

Ultimately, the commissioners sided with the residents, who wanted the board to deny the conditional use also because of potential noise levels as well as potential harm to the fish and wildlife.

Attorney W. Nathan Meldon had anticipated the noise issue and presented an informal “Sound Test” report prepared by Young during the applicant's presentation.

He said the track was a mile from the lake and a Ferrari engine between the lake and road from a car similar to those he wanted to race would only produce 43 decibels, which is lower than the trucks measured at 78 to 85 decibels along the main road at the south end of his property.

But the commissioners did not agree with their results as three of the commissioners said they had had firsthand experience living miles away from a raceway and those very were loud.

“We’re evaluating next steps and our options,” Meldon said after the vote.

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But the attorney for Lang said the study was not conducted by an expert and without a report from an expert the results were more like anecdotal evidence. He also pointed to flaws in the conditional use application by Young's team.

Attorney Alan Brent Geohagan of Lakeland also said Young had set up corporations which may be a sign that he wants to expand the motorsports complex in the future.

While the racetrack project cannot move forward, the applicant can come back in a year to reapply.

Young had no comment on the result of the commissioners’ vote. He did say the corporations were set up for liability reasons when asked.

The rejected vehicle-oriented recreation facility on 448 acres needed a conditional use for a Commercial-3 land use, a change from the current Rural Residential-Agricultural zoning category.  Young also wanted to build a single-family home and buildings related to auto racing.

Young intended to host private events approximately two to four times per month with attendance being less than 10 people but not more than 30 for each event, his attorney said.

The site is in the southeast corner of the county north of County Road 630, south of Lake Walk in Water – a 7,528-acre lake also known as Lake Weohyakapka, east of Frostproof’s city limits and west of Indian Lake Estates.

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The property is also located in the vicinity of the Avon Park AFR Military Training Facility, meaning low-flying aircraft can fly over the land during military exercises day and night.

Property records show Young bought the land, which was mostly pastureland and orange groves, for $2.9 million in March from FX Bar Ranch Inc.

In making the motion to overturn the planning commission decision, Commissioner Neil Combee said a resident had asked the board during the public portion of the hearing if the commissioners would want a racetrack a mile or two from their front door.

“The answer for me is no,” Combee said.

Paul Nutcher can be reached at pnutcher@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Polk commissioners reject racetrack plan near Frostproof