Utica off-road riding complex gets the OK from Village Board

The Utica Village Board has OK’d the reopening of an off-road riding complex, which owners said will be used for “almost exclusively dirt bikes.”

On Thursday, the board approved petitions requested by Gerhard and Patricia Ward, who will acquire about 600 acres along the south side of 2803rd Road and turn those acres into Fox Valley Off Road 2.0.

The Village Board passed a series of 6-0 votes adding “off-road recreational riding park” to the zoning ordinance as a permitted use, then granting a special-use permit and conditions that were advanced two days before by the Utica Planning Commission.

“Good luck,” Trustee John Schweickert told the petitioners.

Gerhard Ward had testified earlier this week that he’d worked at the track years ago and “didn’t like how it was run.” At that time, however, he had no ownership stake and no say in the operations. Under his watch, he said, there will be changes.

The riding complex will be fenced in, and any riders who cross into neighboring properties will be banned for life. An after-hours number will be available for neighbors to report unauthorized riders. Weather permitting, the complex will be open from March to November for off-road riding involving “almost exclusively dirt bikes.”

“There’s absolutely no farm ground at all,” Gerhard Ward had said, adding later, “We have a 30-year agreement with the sand company that it cannot be mined again.”

(The Wards also proposed using some of the land for a solar farm, but that matter will be addressed later.)

Public opinion was sharply divided at a packed house Tuesday, with neighbors expressing concerns over noise and other nuisances. When the full board convened Thursday, however, the spectator section was much less full.

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An aerial view of the former site of Buffalo Range Riding Park on Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024, at the location near 1028 North 2803rd Road in Utica. (Scott Anderson)

Housing rehabilitation grant

Separately, if you need some help rehabbing your Utica home, the village might be able to provide assistance.

The Utica Village Board voted 6-0 to apply for a Community Development Block Grant/Housing Rehabilitation Grant. In a companion resolution, the village adopted a resolution committing $20,000 to the project.

If the federal funds are approved, the village could procure the funding to rehabilitate 10 owner-occupied single-family homes, with project costs up to $670,000.

Finally, the Village Board set trick-or-treat hours from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Oct. 31.