The Warren County Planning and Zoning Commission tabled a motocross race proposal in order to allow time for the commission to consider changes to the county’s ordinances regarding RV camping during the board’s meeting June 18.

The proposal before the commission was presented by Anthony and Betsy Pupillo to host up to two races a year at their property located at 29148 Highway Y in the western end of the county near Jonesburg.

The Pupillos have built a motocross track on their property which consists of 12.2 acres. They had a race on their property last year before they realized they needed a permit for races, which they collect money to provide to charitable organizations. Anthony Pupillo made it clear that the track is not a business and that the whole point is to give racers a fun safe place to race, while raising money for charities. During last year’s race they gave $5,500 for ALS.

The Pupillos had originally scheduled a race the weekend of June 5-6, but canceled a formal race because the Warren County Commissioners told them they needed a permit before the June races. Instead of their normal race plan, they invited friends over for a race day and donated $1,500 raised to the AGAPE food pantry.

Anthony Pupillo said that there would be a maximum of two race dates a year which would consist of races over two days from about 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day. He said parking would be on the facility, but there would be no traffic issues because the races are spread out through the day and people come and go at different times. He said he also wanted the opportunity to have RV parking/camping on his property as RV camping is an important part of motocross racing as racers come from other states.

He said the facility would include six porta-potties and two dumpsters for trash. He said that there would be no permanent changes to his property and that any trash or debris would be immediately cleaned up after racing events.

He said the facility also uses water trucks to wet the track to prevent dust moving to neighboring properties.

After the Pupillos presentation the commission members asked questions regarding the proposal. Commissioner Becca Gasperoni asked Pupillo how often the couple uses the track during the week for their own races not connected to an event. He said maybe once or twice a week.

Commissioner Mike Mirth then asked how many people they would expect on a race weekend and Pupillo said around 500. He said racers would come on a Friday night and races would be Saturday and Sunday with everything done by Sunday at 5:30 p.m.

Members of the public were then allowed to comment on the proposed races. The mix of those speaking for and against the races was fairly mixed with six people speaking for and five speaking against.

Nick Miller and Maya Cole spoke first for the track. Miller said he has been riding since he was 12 years old and that racing was the sole thing that rekindled his relationship with his father. Cole said that the motocross community is a family-oriented event with people from different backgrounds coming together to share their passion.

Fred Hudgens, who spoke in favor of the track, asked the commissioners to keep the track open. He said the track brings families together for a fun wholesome event.

Derrick Collier also spoke in favor of the track saying that he felt like Tony and Betsy Pupillo made him part of their extended family with other racers. He described himself as a vintage guy riding vintage bikes. He described the Pupillo’s track as a golf course with a racetrack on it. He said the facility provides a nice safe place to race and that camping at the facility was very well organized.

Resident Christopher O’Neal, who lives right next to the racetrack, spoke strongly against the track. He said there is a part of the Pupillo’s track that is less than 100 feet from his property line. He said he already had the misfortune of experiencing a full race at the track first hand stating there were trespassing incidents on his property. He said the noise and other issues were so bad that he and his family had to leave home to avoid the issues while the races were going on. He also said that racing occurs regularly at the track event when there are no scheduled races.

Charles and Lisa McNeely also spoke against the track. Charles McNeely told the board, “I hope you aren’t seriously considering this” in reference to the track.

Lisa McNeely said that she suffers with migraines and when there are races at the track she has to put in earphones, but they do not cancel out the noise. She asked the board who gave the Pupillo’s permission to build the track in the first place.

Ultimately the issue the board had was RV camping on the property. Warren County Planning & Zoning Administrator Bill Roemer said that under current county rules RV camping would not be allowed to the degree the Pupillos were proposing.

Attorney Drew Weber told the board that the county is currently considering changes to its RV camping rules and that those rules would come to the planning and zoning commission for review at their July meeting. This led the board to discuss tabling the Pupillo’s request until the next meeting so they could consider the potential changes to the RV rules and then perhaps consider the Pupillos proposal under the new rules.

The board voted to table the meeting until July by a 6-0 vote.