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HENRY: Permit process has been grueling
| Tuesday, May 19 2009 09:00 PM
Last Updated Tuesday, May 19 2009 09:00 PM
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So, you want to open an off-road track in Kern County? You must be stubborn or crazy. Best if you're both.
Oh, and a good, strong pair of legs is essential for all the hoop jumping you'll be doing.
Since the state has failed miserably at building new off-road parks (despite an $86 million annual budget and $90 million generated by fuel taxes and green sticker fees paid by off-roaders for, um, new parks), it's basically up to regular Joes to take up the slack.
That's no easy feat when you consider the byzantine world of CEQA, the California Environmental Quality Act.
Even so, Darrell Melton, Darin Layton and Charlie Comfort were crazy enough to wade into that world more than four years ago to open Honolulu Hills Raceway east of Taft.
And they've been stubborn enough to stick with it over four years of stutter-stepping through paperwork, meetings, reports, studies and countless phone calls.
They've been operating under a temporary use permit from the county that allows for some races and practice days, but haven't been able to go full-time without a Fish and Game permit.
They should have that golden permit in about three months, I was assured by Fish and Game's senior environmental specialist, Julie Vance.
I was all set to slam Fish and Game for dragging its feet. After all, a safe, legal riding park can only help cut down on illegal riding and actually protect more critters than it harms, I thought.
But Vance, curse her common sense ways, agreed that Honolulu Hills is a good project that desperately needed.
"One of the reasons we were interested in seeing this happen is that trespassing by OHVs is a big problem, and we recognize that," she said. "You need a place to relieve the pressure. Our lands are hit with that, too. It's a constant enforcement issue."
Part of the delay was inexperience on the owners' parts, she said. And they also weren't sure whether to apply for a permit for the immediate race track (which is already built and involves 160 acres) or the ultimate vision (640 acres of trails, camping and concessions).
Yeah, in hindsight, Melton said, it would probably have been better to hire a Roger McIntosh-type development consultant who can work through permits in his sleep.
"I think even he would have had a difficult time with this one though because it was so unique," Melton said.
No one seemed to know what to do with the Honolulu guys and their raceway.
Even the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District wasn't sure what to ask for. Melton said they had a friend who works with oil companies on air mitigation do a report and the district was so pleased with it, they asked if they could use it as a model.
Melton, a substitute teacher with a psychology degree, agreed he may have made some missteps along the way.
"I'm no dummy, but I'm no genius, either," he said. "It should really be up to the state to put in more riding parks. They have all the money, they know all the hoops with Fish and Game and all the other agencies. It's a lot easier for them than a private person."
Actually, Melton and his partners could probably teach the state a few lessons, considering how a state riding park east of Bakersfield proposed a few years ago fell through at the last minute.
Vance said that if Melton and his partners talked to Fish and Game first, the permitting probably would have taken much less time.
Vance will have the chance to prove that possibly in the near future if all goes as planned for Ron Pierce, who's scouting for land east of Bakersfield to open a similar off-road race track.
He had a permit to hold a handful of events on his own ranch at Breckenridge and Comanche roads, and they were so well received, he's decided to jump into the pond with the Honolulu guys.
Having spent a career as a builder, however, he's a bit more prepared for the process.
"If you're not stubborn as a mule, you're not going to get anywhere," he said.
Crazy helps, too.
Opinions expressed in this column are those of Lois Henry, not The Bakersfield Californian. Her column appears Wednesdays and Sundays. Comment at people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/noholdsbarred, call her at 395-7373 or e-mail lhenry@bakersfield.com
