{"id":7330,"date":"2025-03-05T07:23:48","date_gmt":"2025-03-05T07:23:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/princetonillinois.com\/?p=7330"},"modified":"2025-03-05T07:23:48","modified_gmt":"2025-03-05T07:23:48","slug":"off-road-riding-complex-to-reopen-in-utica-project-still-needs-full-board-approval-shaw-local-news-network","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/princetonillinois.com\/?p=7330","title":{"rendered":"Off-road riding complex to reopen in Utica? Project still needs full board approval – Shaw Local News Network"},"content":{"rendered":"


Gerhard Ward tells the Utica Planning Commission about plans for Fox River Off Road 2.0 during the commission’s meeting Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024. Ward and his family want to offer dirt bike riders a venue in rural Utica. <\/span>(Tom Collins)
There once was a track for dirt bikes and off-road vehicles in rural Utica<\/a>. Two developers want to reopen it \u2013 and manage it better than previous owners had.
On Tuesday, the Utica Planning Commission recommended that petitions, with assorted conditions, be granted to Gerhard and Patricia Ward, who hope to acquire almost 600 acres along the south side of 2803rd Road and turn the property into Fox Valley Off Road 2.0.
Tuesday\u2019s votes only advanced a recommendation to the Utica Village Board<\/a>, which has final say and could take up the matter Thursday.
Gerhard Ward said he had worked at the track years ago and \u201cdidn\u2019t like how it was run.\u201d He had no ownership stake then and no say in the operations.
Mindful of past nuisance complaints, Ward said dirt bikes today are less noisy and are increasingly electrically powered. An after-hours number will be available for neighbors to report unauthorized riders. The property will be enclosed, and riders will be warned: Drive off the complex and onto private property, and you will be banned for life.
Fox Valley Off Road <\/span>Gerhard Ward discusses plans to reopen Fox Valley Off Road in Utica. The 600-acre complex was open under previous ownership until 2008. <\/span>(Tom Collins)
Ward said that, weather permitting, the facility would be open from March to November for off-road riding \u2013 \u201calmost exclusively dirt bikes\u201d \u2013 and the parcel contains no arable land.
\u201cThere\u2019s absolutely no farm ground at all,\u201d Gerhard Ward said, adding later, \u201cWe have a 30-year agreement with the sand company that it cannot be mined again.\u201d
According to the Wards\u2019 petition, the property in question was established in the 1980s as an off-road riding park until it was sold to Unimin Corp. (now COVIA) in 2008. COVIA, according to the petition, is willing to exchange the property for parcels in Dayton Township.
(Actually, the Wards also propose using some of the land for a solar farm, but that matter will be settled later.)
Utica Fire Chief Ben Brown said he approached the Wards with a litany of questions and came away with a plan for how to reach the injured. There is a set landing zone. The complex will operate in daylight, when first responders are available. GPS technology will help emergency medical services find injured riders.
Public opinion was sharply divided.
Ben Wolfe of Poplar Grove <\/b>said he has a law enforcement background and has found riding in a controlled environment is infinitely preferable to having riders run around in the wild. He also vouched for the Ward family.
\u201cWhen they tell you they\u2019re going to put a fence up, they\u2019re going to put a fence up,\u201d he said. \u201cThese are family-oriented people who will not set you up for failure because they\u2019re not going to set themselves up for failure.\u201d
Tom Keenan of Ottawa<\/a> said he has ridden and has worked at other riding facilities, and the Ward family \u201csets the gold standard for how it should be done.\u201d
Jim Blaydes of Peru<\/a> said he is a longtime rider who called the Wards\u2019 other facilities \u201ca family environment, safe for kids.\u201d
\u201cWhat these people have done here is far superior to the riding parks in the area,\u201d Blaydes said.
\u201cHow would you feel if this is coming to your backyard?\u201d countered Roger Bauer, who lives near the proposed complex. \u201cWe\u2019ve been taking a [heck] of a beating on our property values.\u201d
Diane Gassman, another rural Utica resident, said there wasn\u2019t much notification either by the Wards or the village.
\u201cHow long have you had this information? We just got it,\u201d Gassman said, urging time for longer consideration and the imposition assorted conditions. She added later, \u201cThis seems like a done deal.\u201d
Separately, a proposal to add camping spaces to a tavern at Utica\u2019s south end was withdrawn. Benjamin Ruiz, owner of Ano del Gallo, at one point had sought the village\u2019s OK to install \u201csmall lodging facilities\u201d on 3.25 acres of unused space.
Finally, the Planning Commission approved a petition from Lucas and Kylie Mattioda to construct an accessory building, for pool use, at 2874 E. 752nd Road. Kylie Mattioda is a Utica village trustee and would have to recuse herself from any vote that comes up Thursday before the Utica Village Board.
Patricia and Gerhard Ward swear to tell truthful testimony at a Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024, meeting of the Utica Planning Commission. The Wards want to redevelop almost 600 acres along the south side of 2803rd Road into Fox Valley Off Road 2.0, a complex for off-road riding. <\/span>(Tom Collins)
Copyright \u00a9 2023 Shaw Local News Network
Copyright \u00a9 2023 Shaw Local News Network<\/p>\n

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Gerhard Ward tells the Utica Planning Commission about plans for Fox River Off Road 2.0 during the commission’s meeting Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024. Ward and his family want to offer dirt bike riders a venue in rural Utica. (Tom Collins)There once was a track for dirt bikes and off-road vehicles in rural Utica. Two developers want to reopen it \u2013<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t