Motocross Track Still Stalled Over Lack of Permits

Efforts to rev up a motocross track in the Cleveland National Forest have become mired in bureaucracy, leaving organizers unsure when--or if--they will be able to resume motorcycle races in a dried-out corner of an Orange County lake bed.

The Saddleback Motocross Park opened Labor Day weekend to big crowds and great expectations. But after four days, Saddleback Motorsports Partners LLC, the park’s operators, closed the facility because of a dispute with the county over permits.

Three weeks later, the dispute continues and Saddleback Motorsports’ problems appear to be growing. Not only does the enterprise lack county permits, federal and state agencies are investigating the mountain terrain to determine if their approval also is needed.

Meanwhile, time is running out on the racing season. An early rain could flood the facility’s three courses, near Irvine Lake in an area known as Woody Cove.

Jon Waller, a Saddleback Motorsports partner, knows the road to reopening will be long and bumpy.

“You’re dealing with three guys who have a lot of fight in them,” Waller said of his partners, “three guys who’ve been trying to do this for three years.”

Waller and his group said they are prepared to go to court to reopen the courses. Saddleback Motorsports, Waller said, has a permit to operate the three courses from the Serrano Water District and the Irvine Co., which together own the lake bed.

The county, though, said operators have yet to produce a grading permit or a conditional-use permit.

“There seems to be tremendous support for this concept and we have nothing against it,” said Brian Murphy, a spokesman for the county planning department. “But we still haven’t seen anything that makes us think they have a license to operate. This has to go through the proper channels and being inside a lake bed means it has pretty high standards to deal with.”

Waller said the county is being overbearing.

“The county has come up with a lot of concerns, but they haven’t given us any legal basis,” said Waller, a certified public accountant. But the county could be the least of Saddleback Motorsports’ concerns.

Course operators may need the blessing of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board before they resume business.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers could demand a clean-water permit, which is required when any dredged or fill material is discharged into a stream or wetlands. The water board might demand permits or even issue a fine. And the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service must determine whether the racing endangers protected species or affects such threatened foliage as the coastal sage scrub.

“At this time, we don’t have enough information and we haven’t been up to the site yet,” said Jane Hendron, a spokeswoman for the service.

“But this kind of thing does happen. It’s unfortunate that some people may be caught in not knowing what permits they need.”

Waller said a biologist assured him that his operation would pose no threat to the environment.

The motocross park was the first to open in Orange County since 1984, when Saddleback Park closed after it was denied insurance after a series of accidents, several fatal.

Displeased Motocross enthusiasts, who flocked to Woody Cove during the park’s 4-day run, have phoned and e-mailed the county and the Irvine Co., which co-owns the lake bed with the Serrano Water District.

Operators of the course shut the message board on their Web site when it became peppered with threats and distasteful comments.

“The quality of the posts were declining and there was no value added,” a note on the Web site says.

Many of the threats were directed at Sherry Meddick, a Silverado Canyon resident and environmental activist who voiced concerns about traffic problems caused by the large crowds drawn to the track.

One of the postings referred to Meddick as “Sherry bin Laden.”

“It’s scary and it makes me nervous,” said Meddick, who has filed a complaint with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

“What these people don’t understand is that I wasn’t responsible for the shutdown.”

Waller said he too was surprised by the tone of some of the messages.

He also said he is trying to be patient with the permit process.

“We’re frustrated with the amount of time it’s taking to get the issues resolved, but the process is understandable,” he said. “If this were easy, everybody would be doing it.”