Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126285
San Diego County ORV park up to the users By Chuck Clayton Funny thing about us dirtriders: we grump and groan that there's no place to ride, and then whe n a county government offers us our own 1,555 acre playground, we sit on our buns and do zip to help bring it abo ut. But th en , nobody ever accused us bikers of not being dumb . It gives a big laugh to the anti -ORV campaigners to watch the dirt pol ice chase us down on their Hastevarnas with red lights and sirens while we fill the state ORV fund with registra tion fees th at they can't use on our behalf, because we won't help ourselves . What , you 're not laughing? It's ironic, really, that in America the citizens get what they deserve . It is God 's own joke that here we've taxed ourse lves to provi de us with ground to ride on, and yet San Diego County, California has been trying for nine years to give us a place to do our thing, and we are not helping. Twenty miles from downtown San Diego , near the little city of Santee, county park planners have laid out a 1,555 acre site that could be the first of four planned ORV recreation parks around San Diego County. A one r million dollar grant from Califo~ia green sticky and federal recrean on funds has been accepted, and another $2 million is on its way - if we can ove rcome the anti-fun fo rces ' propaganda . The gov ernment h as done all it can, th e rest is up to us. . "We are not even sure the ORV users even want th is park ," said the County Pa rk Planner , Pete Cuthbert , at a sparsely attended meeting . October 19 . Thre e hundred loc al ORV businessmen - bike deal ers, dune buggy manufac tu rers - were invit ed. Only a dozen bothered to showup . Cu thbert laid out the situation : all the reasonable environmental objections have been satisfied. A local builder wants to construct 5,000 lowincome houses on th e site, but there are better places to build hous es. There is a sewage tr eatment plant alongside, so it is not th e neatest place to make your hom e . Environmentalists have enlisted some of the community, through fearful propaganda , to block acc ess to the park. But a number of people in Santee are reported ly on ou r side . T here would be a free , 200 acre playground for the kids , a mo tocross track that would be avail able for club events , supervised recreation for some 70,000 San Diego ORV riders under the age of 16, overnight camping with hookups , picnic areas, an d tr ails for the grownups, both two- and fourwheel dri vers. On Novem ber 15th at 8 p.m . in Room 101, Casa Del Prado in Balboa Park, there will be a meeting of local ORV users . Success of the County's ORV park program depends on your being there, to learn how you can help . If the Santee Park is not allowed , the whole county cou ld be closed to dirt riding . Be there, and bri ng a friend. Meantime , on Oc tober 28 at 2 p .m. th e County Planning Comm ission mee ts to conside r the Santee ORV project, and on Novem ber 4 at 2 p .m. they me et again to take final action . Then on Decem ber 8 the Cou nt y Board of Sup ervisors meets at 9 a. m. to consider the proposal , an d again on Decem ber 15 to tak e final action. All of these public hearings will take place in Roo m 358 of the County • Administration Center, 1600 Pacific Highway. But merely making your presence known at the hearings will not be enough to win th is one. Di~ect politic~1 act ivity is needed. What IS needed IS community relations with the 50,000 citizens of Santee. Somebody has to contact enough of them and mak~ a good impression . They'll be fi ll~d WIth m isinformation by our ad versa n es. Somebod y's gotta tell the citizens of Sant ee that th eir property values will be en han ced by proximity to the park, that noise will not be a problem , th at access roads will not be choked with traffic, that the ir babies will not be born harel ipped , t hat t he Hell's Angels and Mongols will ~ot shoot it ou t in their front yards, that dust need not be a problem , etc. T hey'll hav e questions that need to be truthfully answered, like who's going to pa y for this park? Will it ra ise my tax es? Bikers of San Diego County need to enlist the moral support of their Santee neighbors, via petitions in favor of the park, by door-to-door "tru th squads" if necessary, to win support for th is project. Don 't the kids deserve a place to ride? , It will be like getting the first pickle out of the jar - after that first one, it comes easier. San Diego County anchors the whole dirtbike recreation program for California state and the nation. We are counting heavily on you , San Diego bikers . We 'll onl y get what you deserve. • ~- I .~ t r-.. r-.. 0') ~ (N 1-0 "Q) ..0 8 Q) > 0 Z Why fight traffic to ' get Guest edtorial Let riders help make A MA policy At the recent Congress of the American Motorcycle Association, a resolution passed with but a single dissenting vote as drafted in lengthy sessions by the Int er -D is tr ic t Coord ination Committee. Al though not on the published ' agenda , the proposals contained in the resolution concern themselves with a restructuring of the policy-making hierarchy of the AMA. Reflecting current conditions of the Association , the 1977 Congress overwhelmingly pushed for additional membership by Class A people to effect a better balance between industry and consumer factions . The th ree current Trustees are elected by ballot from all AMA members in th eir respe ctive Regions. In Mark Ros~n (east) , Bill Baird (central), and ~Im Wells (west), we ha ve an outstanding trio of en th usia sts of diverse backgrounds in th~. spo rt , busi~ess foundations and posm ve geographical area fam iliarity. They ha ve served th e Board and th e Association admir ab ly. Now , pend ing approva l of the Boa rd of Trustees who must alter the AMA Code of Regulations to pe~it it in thei r February annual meetmg, there will be four more people to assist in moving th e aims and purposes of the Association forward. These four will represent the Congress itself with its 38 Districts and the Chartered Clubs of the AMA . the group from which all rules governing the amateur fa cet of th e spor t are proposed, adopted and amended. The direct link between the Congress and the Trus~ees is now possible, and of gr eat potential , Bob Wood of Oregon and George Smith of Nebraska will represen t road riding factions , while Glenn J ordan of Ohio and the wri ter , from Southern California , were elected from nominees in th e competition facet. LYNN WINELAND Congr essman , District 37 AMA - when it can be home delivered? --------· 1 I I I I I I I I I I SUBSCRIBE NOW! MAIL TO : CYCLE NEWS, 2201 Che rry A ve. Long Beach, CA 90801 or can (213) 427-7433 CYCLE NEWS (1 year) $15. 0 50 ISSUES CYCLE NEWS (2 years) 27. 0 100 ISSUES CYC LE NEWS (3 years).. 37.50 0 150 ISSUES Please send me the 0 EAST or 0 WEST edition. 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