MARTINSBURG - Berkeley Planning Commission members listened their staff's recommendations at Monday night's meeting about controversial plans for the Tomahawk MX park.

Commissioners unanimously approved the motocross facility's preliminary site plan, a move that clearly divided the more than 100 audience members on hand for the lengthy public hearing.

Planning Director Stefanie Allemong said that her staff recommended the action be approved. She was also unaware of any federal findings to support citizen claims that wetlands were present at the track or being damaged by the motocross activity.

Her remarks didn't sit well with many citizens who testified, the majority of them neighboring property owners who described how the motocross park had negatively impacted their home values, hurt the local environment, damaged local roads and caused noise and dust problems.

Many of the citizens stressed that they were present before the track and they think that a residential area is not appropriate for this type of business.

Local resident Jack Zickafoose said he was "stunned" that the commission would even grant the park a hearing since they have been in business for six years without the necessary county permits.

"I am not against motocross but this was put in a residential area, literally overnight," Zickafoose said.

"I feel they should be fined and fined heavily for operating without the required permits for this period of time," he said.

Fellow resident Robert Maguire agreed.

"This commission has a responsibility to see that permitting laws are followed," he said.

Tomahawk MX sits on approximately 110 acres of land about 1.5 miles west of Back Creek Valley Road at Tomahawk near Hedgesville, according to county data.

Berkeley Planning officials first acknowledged that the park was lacking some of its building permits last month, after citizens had questioned their presence at a noise ordinance hearing held in September.

In an interview last month, Allemong said the problematic situation with the park dates back to 2004.

That's because the park had disturbed more than 3,000 square feet of land without a site plan and had also put permanent structures in place, Allemong said.

Since that discovery, the company had provided the county with a sketch plan and filed a preliminary plat application in August, she said.

Owner Chad Gochenour was present but did not speak during the hearing.

He was represented by attorney Peter Chakmakian, who challenged many of the citizen claims regarding the facility's lack of permits or how it does business.

"We have defenses regarding the permits but this is not the forum to air that," Chakmakian said.

Because there's no zoning, Gochenour is within his rights to operate this business as he desires, he said.

"No regulation even smacks of zoning in Berkeley County, so what they do is legal. Your staff has said they conform to the standards, so we urge you to approve it," Chakmakian said.

Martinsburg resident Mark Palmer, who spoke in support of the park, agreed, He said, "What they're doing now, as long as it's legal and proper, should be approved."

Andy DiMagno, who said he has worked closely with Gochenour on the park's development, said regulations were different when construction was first begun.

He denied that the state Department of Environmental of Protection has found any problems or issued any violations while on site visits there.

DiMagno also said there are no streams or wetlands on the motocross grounds.

Commissioner Daniel Gantt made the motion to approve the site plan, which was seconded by John Jeans. Chairman Don Fox and member Ted Bostic were absent.

While there was applause from the audience following the unanimous vote, not everyone was happy after the meeting.

Resident David Swineford, who lives about 200 feet from one of the park's trails, didn't try to hide his frustration.

"I expected it. It's been four years of indifference from the County Commission and the Planning Commission. We can't even get a noise ordinance passed because it might affect their pet race track, so they're not going to turn this down," Swineford said.

- Staff writer Jenni Vincent can be reached at (304) 263-8931, ext. 138, or jvincent@journal-news.net

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