Will western Palm Beach County become motorsports hub? Fans cheer plan, but ATV park faces fight

ROYAL PALM BEACH — Commissioner Sara Baxter wants to make Palm Beach County’s western communities South Florida’s new home for motorsports. And she wants GL Homes to help make it happen by building an ATV park in Loxahatchee as part of the deal it has proposed to build million-dollar homes in the Agricultural Reserve.

Baxter said the ATV park would “free up” 120 acres of county-owned land near 20 Mile Bend that was previously set for an off-road vehicle park to build a drag racing complex that would replace Palm Beach International Raceway west of Jupiter.Until the 20 Mile Bend site is developed, drag racers may be able to use Palm Beach County Glades Airport along Lake Okeechobee, Baxter said. The county is looking at whether use of the site is possible.

Baxter urged a crowd of more than 300 racing fans who sat through an update on the racing projects Monday at Royal Palm Beach Village Hall to turn out Oct. 24 to support the GL Homes land swap when it goes before the County Commission for approval.

Those fans, however, may be joined there by Loxahatchee-area residents who oppose the plan for the ATV park, which would sit on 200 acres off 60th Street. They said it would bring unprecedented commercial development to the Santa Rosa Groves area and strip it of its quiet, rural feel.

“It just does not belong here,” said Young Derks, a Santa Rosa Groves resident. “Unfortunately, it is clear to me you do not value or respect our farming community.”

And off-road vehicle enthusiasts, who have waited more than a decade for a park to be built for them on the land at 20 Mile Bend, say the plans for an ATV-only park fall short of covering the original purpose of the facility: offering a safe place to ride all kinds of off-highway vehicles.

The comments didn’t appear to deter Baxter who said in an interview Tuesday that the GL Land deal is crucial to ensure a pathway for motorsports to find a new home in Palm Beach County.

“I can’t make everyone happy,” Baxter told the crowd. “All I can do is stand up for what I believe is right and for a community that I love.”

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Sunrise-based GL Homes wants to build a high-end, 55-plus community west of Boca Raton of about 1,000 homes in the county’s Agricultural Reserve that the county had previously promised would never be built upon.The developer offered to preserve land elsewhere in exchange for the county's permission to increase density in many of its developments in the reserve, a 22,000-acre zone west of Florida’s Turnpike that extends from suburban Boca Raton to suburban Boynton Beach.In exchange, GL Homes would give the county 1,600 acres in the northwest part of the county for a water-resource project. It would also reduce the number of homes it could build in the Indian Trails Grove area near The Acreage to 2,612 from 3,897, a reduction of 1,285 homes – or about the number it would build west of Boca Raton.The 200 acres where the ATV park would go are among the land that GL Homes would give to the county as part of the deal. Baxter has asked the developer to pay for the park’s construction. The county would hire a private company to manage it under her plan.

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What would the GL Homes ATV park include?

Alan Fant, the executive vice president for GL Homes, unveiled Monday the first site plans for a proposed 200-acre civic park off 60th Street. It would feature a 128-acre ATV park, lakes and a campground.

Fant told the crowd he envisioned the site to be a park that would feature ATV riding trails, lakes and campsites. He showed renderings that included beginner, intermediate and advanced trails.

Baxter said the park would have the following requirements and regulations that should help keep noise from becoming a problem for nearby homes:

• Trails would be 900 feet — three football fields — away from any homes.

• An 8-foot berm buffer would surround the property.

• Only ATVs would be allowed — no dirt bikes or motorcycles.

• Vehicles would be allowed to operate at only 97 decibels or as loud as a power mower sounds from 25 feet away.

• The park would open Wednesday through Sunday and on several Mondays during holiday weekends.

• Operating hours would be from 9:30 a.m. until dusk.

• No racing except on weekend events with big three events expected every year.

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Baxter says ATV park would give community a safe place to ride

Baxter, who said her family enjoys racing, said ATVs are common in Loxahatchee and the rural areas of the western communities and that a dedicated facility would give people across the county a safe space to ride.

“It will get them off of the roads and give them a designated place to have fun with their families,” she said. “They're riding essentially in people's backyards right now. I would say they will be living more in peace, not less.”

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Baxter told the crowd she didn't think noise would be a problem.

She said the community would benefit from having GL Homes pay for and oversee the construction of the park because it will ensure it gets built. She added the builder has also agreed to make roadway and drainage improvements in the area.

Santa Rosa Grove residents opposed ATV park development

But Bill Durks, the owner of Sweet Tropical Farms, said that placing a commercial facility where hundreds of ATVs will be constantly riding would destroy the rural feel of the area.

Durks said GL is trying to “sweeten” the deal for the county by offering to place the ATV Park in Loxahatchee, but the project would harm the community by disrupting animals and farming in the area.

Initially, Durks said, the community supported the land swap deal because GL Homes had agreed to reduce the number of future homes it is allowed to build in Loxahatchee. But, he said residents were kept in the dark about plans to place an ATV park in their community.

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“It wasn't even in the GL land swap deal at all,” Durks said of the ATV park, which first surfaced in June. “And then, at the 11th hour, Sara Baxter is trying to sneak it in there. Nowhere in the United States is an ATV park within one mile of any residences.”

Rob Watson, a retired veteran and police officer, bought a property three years ago that would be on the eastern edge of the proposed ATV park. Watson said he suffers from PTSD and decided to build a home in Santa Rosa Groves to be far away from city noise.

“I purchased my property with intentions to be calm, to be quiet,” Watson said. “To find out now that an ATV Park is going to be across the street in my front yard is devastating.”

Watson thought Baxter’s presentation was misleading: It didn’t show the location of homes near the ATV park, maps weren’t drawn to scale, and no one has studied the noise and traffic the park would create.He also said Baxter’s office and GL Homes failed to notify residents or engage with them about the proposal.

“Why has no one come out here to talk to the people who would be affected?” Watson said. “There is a whole community that you purposely blacked out.”

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Off-road riders disappointed, not surprised with plans for ATV park

Members of the off-road riding community were disappointed but not surprised by the announcement that the park would be exclusively for ATVs — and that dirt bikes and side-by-sides wouldn’t be allowed.

Tyler Glock previously said he feared moving the OHV Park project from 20 Mile Bend to sit next to residences in Loxahatchee would limit the type of vehicles allowed in the facility.

Baxter said during the meeting that other off-highway vehicles were louder, are often used for racing and should be placed in another location.

Glock said the county identified a need for a facility that would offer people a safe place to drive all off-highway vehicles. He added that the only difference between an ATV and other off-highway vehicles are the number of wheels, not the sounds they make.

“I'm glad to see Commissioner Baxter wanting to provide a place for people to ride,” Glock said. “However, I think this project misses the mark by excluding dirt bikes and all off-highway vehicles.”

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Pahokee-area airport could become temporary drag racing site

Baxter said she has filed a petition with the Federal Aviation Administration to use the Palm Beach County Glades Airport near Pahokee as a drag strip until the 20 Mile Bend complex can be built.The airport covers about 250 acres southwest of Pahokee and serves small planes. Drag racers have not had a track to use locally since April 2022, when Palm Beach International Raceway closed.

Baxter told the crowd she had already heard from two companies that would be interested in building a track at 20 Mile Bend. The application for projects on the site closed on Oct. 20, according to the county's website.

Madelyn Marconi grew up going to the Jupiter raceway with her dad. She spoke at several meetings opposing its closure this year and is now advocating for Baxter's plan to build a new racetrack in Palm Beach County.

"I'm not stopping," said Marconi in the meeting. "A lot of the people are here today because of our goal to bring motorsports back to the county."

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 Twitter at @ValenPalmB. Support local journalism: Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: GL Homes land swap set to bring ATV park to western Palm Beach County