SANTA CALRITA / ANTELOPE VALLEY : Emotions Rise at Hearing on Proposed Off-Road Racing Facility in Canyon

CANYON COUNTRY —  More than 300 people crowded into a Mint Canyon Elementary School portable classroom and hundreds more milled about outside to voice both opposition and support for a planned off-road vehicle facility during a county public meeting.

Arguing that an off-road vehicle racing facility near Los Angeles is sorely needed, supporters at the hearing Wednesday night waved placards and wore stickers printed by the developer who owns the 537-acre Baker and Hume canyons site and wants to sell it to Los Angeles County to build the facility.

“What we’re talking about here is fairness,” said Greg Powell, an off-road vehicle rider who argued that the millions of dollars that off-roaders have paid in vehicle registration fees and gas taxes over the past decade should be returned to the community by building this park.

“We’re willing to share the land with both hikers and horse riders,” Powell told the panel of county Parks and Recreation Department representatives who moderated the meeting.

The off-road park, according to Los Angeles County officials, would include two or more motocross tracks, a flat track, caretaker’s facilities, a bicycle motocross facility, storage space, wash racks for vehicles, a pro shop, training areas and trails.

But those opposing the facility, who came bearing stickers and placards paid for by local homeowners groups, said horses and off-road vehicles are inherently incompatible.

Many residents, most of whom own horses, said they bought their property and built their homes in this area specifically for its rural atmosphere and that turning Hume and Baker canyons, which are currently zoned residential, into a competition-quality off-road vehicle facility would destroy the character of the community.

“I know I’m going against many of my friends, but I have to tell you that I think this is a mistake. It’s not right to ride in somebody’s back yard,” Newhall resident and off-road vehicle enthusiast Gundy Tollefson said to a chorus of jeers from supporters of the proposal. “We have to have consideration for the people who live here.”

The county Board of Supervisors asked for the meeting to gauge community sentiment. The board had been prepared to develop a master plan for the off-road vehicle facility before Supervisor Michael Antonovich asked for the meeting, which had not been part of the usual procedure.

Peter Whittingham, a deputy for Antonovich, said Wednesday’s meeting could lead to further talks with representatives of the residents, off-road vehicle enthusiasts, and county and state officials before the county goes on to develop a master plan.

“I don’t think we’ll totally toss out the idea based on this meeting tonight,” Whittingham said after the meeting. “But I don’t think we can go forward without a better dialogue.”

Both sides of the issue said they were disappointed in the meeting, with opponents saying the room had been packed with outsiders who would not be affected, adding that the issue was not whether off-road enthusiasts should have a place of their own, but whether Hume-Baker was the best site.

“It probably would be much more constructive, as opposed to what happened (Wednesday) night, which was in much more of a crowd mentality and you don’t get much done that way,” said Susan Kachelek, who lives near the site with her family and five horses.

Supporters of the proposal said Wednesday’s meeting shouldn’t even have taken place.

“What you’ve got to do is study the problem first, then get the community input from all the property owners,” said Donal MacAdam, an associate of Watt Industries, which owns the Hume-Baker site. “If there are any impacts, then you sit there and work out how you can minimize those impacts.”