Conditional use permit to operate motocross facility on hold pending more study
- Roger Sims, Journal Staff
- 8 hours ago
- 3 min read
By Roger Sims
MOUND CITY – An application for a conditional use permit for a motocross track east of the Trading Post/Kansas Highway 52 exit on U.S. Highway 69 was tabled for further review following a hearing by the Linn County Planning and Zoning Commission on Tuesday, Dec. 9. The 42-acre plot at 16349 Young Rd. is owned by Eric and Emily Thies.
At issue was the validity of opposing claims by property owners that the property was only used occasionally for special events and claims by nearby residents David and Cheryl Carney that motorcycles running the dirt tracks were a common and distracting occurrence.
On Wednesday, Dec. 17, Zoning Director Jennifer Cummings said she had discovered promotional materials for a motocross school business being conducted by Christopher Thies with the property at 16349 Young Rd. as the address.
Christopher Thies, has been operating the school for several years, and according to Emily Thies, the property had been used as a motocross track for more than two decades without a complaint.
The races that are hosted on the property by the school are advertised on Facebook and draw participants driving recreational vehicles or hauling campers for overnight stays.
Emily Thies told the planning commission that former Sheriff Kevin Friend and former zoning director Darin Wilson had given approval for the land use.
Wilson in an interview on Wednesday, Dec. 17, said that was not the case.
Ironically, during the push to ban solar installations, the Thieses were part of a group that argued that a large-scale solar panel installation would detract from the natural beauty of the county and would have environmental impact.
At the Dec. 17 hearing, Emily Thies argued that land adjacent to theirs was zoned commercial, however, the zoning map approved in 2022 has the area zoned as agricultural. A commercial motocross track is not on the list of approved exceptions for agricultural zoning.
According to planning commission chair David Fisher, motocross and similar uses are not addressed in the county’s zoning regulations that were revised as recently as 2024.
Thies reportedly told planning board members that while some weekend events could be noisy, those events were the exception. And while one neighbor said that the noise didn’t bother her, that was not the reaction of another neighbor.
Cheryl Carney, whose property adjoins the Thieses on the south, said that the noise was not just during special events and that it was at times overpowering. She and her husband indicated they were against the county issuing a permit for the continued operation.
Carney also said that when the Thieses hold racing events, a considerable crowd of people attend, attracting more than the Thieses have indicated.
Zoning Director Cummings said that as she was doing further background research on the property when she learned that the Thieses’ son was operating the motocross training school at the site on a regular basis.
In her recommendation to the planning commission, Cummings said that the use doesn’t fit with the character of the nearby properties, which are agricultural and agricultural/residential. And while the property is suitable for the proposed use, it would detrimentally affect nearby properties.
She also noted that the proposed use could detrimentally affect public safety and health and that the requested CUP does not meet the current county zoning regulations.
Cummings also went on to ask that the owners pay for an environmental impact study, provide for adequate traffic management for events, put into place noise control measures including mufflers on all motorcycles.
As in all CUPs granted in recent years, the CUP would be reviewed annually and could be withdrawn if problems arise.