Life is entirely a matter of perspective. If my neighbor decided to create a half-mile twisty karting track next to me I’d do what any reasonable person does and buy a go-kart. Unfortunately, not everyone is as reasonable as I am and that’s why the local authorities shut down the operation within minutes of its first use.
This whole story will be a litmus test for your feelings about race cars, zoning regulations, sound, neighbors, and the benefits of asking for permission in an attempt to avoid forgiveness. I’m quite a YIMBY (yes-in-my-backyard) although my YIMBYism usually revolves around building more affordable housing.
It’s amusing to extend the concept of YIMBYism to race tracks as, in general, I also think there should be more race tracks in this world. This is clearly not a commonly held belief in Suburban Baltimore.
He’s Doing It All For Achilles
The best way to be truly successful at racing is to have a parent or parents who are invested in your racing. And by invested, of course, I mean willing to spend a ridiculous amount of money to help you win karting trophies.
This isn’t unique to karting as trying to get your kid to become a professional in almost any endeavor, whether athletic or even artistic, can encourage some questionable financial decisions. Up here in New York you have pre-teens getting vocal lessons from Broadway extras and advanced swim lessons for seven-year-olds.
It’s just that, as Aedan recently pointed out, the costs associated with getting into racing are at the extreme end. Take our protagonist (or antagonist if you listen to his neighbors), Charles Siperko, who is the CEO of a roofing company in the area.
His 10-year-old son Achilles is obsessed with racing and has been working his way up through the karting world so that one day he can become an open-wheel racer. Here’s what Siperko told the local Fox affiliate:
“He wants to be an open wheel driver. So, it’s hard work,” says Siperko, “He’s out of town every weekend. He’ll get up at 5am, go to the gym to work out during the week. He reads about racing, watches videos.”
He says his son eats, sleeps, and breathes motorsports. While other kids his age are hanging out with friends, Achilles spends every weekend traveling to Florida for practice and across the country for races. Along the way, he’s collected some impressive hardware, but the end destination is becoming a professional racer.
Drive, talent, and a parent able to take you to Florida every weekend are the keys to making it in this industry, but that last bit is probably the most important.
The Track Looks Pretty Good
Going to Florida every weekend has to be a lot for a small child and the drive from Highland, Maryland to Orlando is about 13 hours with little traffic. Laking a high-quality karting track nearby, Siperko did the only logical thing he could do and put $100,000 into a kart track in his backyard.
This track looks good from space with a nice variety of turns and different configurations to make the most out of a half-mile space. In the video, it’s even more obvious that there are some elevation changes as well.
One thing that sticks out is that there’s a brand-new house that’s quite large, with a swimming pool, tennis courts, and a lot of open space adjacent to this parcel that contains the karting track. It seems a little out of place with the other homes around it. Anyway, just a totally random observation.
The track was completed in January and it’s sadly only been driven one time. From that same article, Siperko says “He got on the track for 15mins. If 15 minutes! Maybe 10 minutes. Then my neighbors called the police and obviously they called the County.”
Strange!
The Neighbors Do Not Recognize How Nice The Track Is
A quick perusal of the Greater Highland Crossroads Association Community Group’s Facebook Page shows that people are generally not on board with this exactly.
Here’s what Sarah Troxel, who is reportedly the mom, said:
My ten-year-old son eat, breathes, and sleeps motorsports. His passion holds the seeds of a future professional car-racing career, but it’s not an easy journey. For a year and a half, he’s been karting. Every single weekend, he makes sacrifices that children of his age aren’t usually asked to – traveling all the way to Florida to practice. Playground time with friends, birthday parties, socializing at family events – he misses it all for his single-minded pursuit of becoming a professional racer. We’ve built a go-kart track on our private property so during the warm months, he can train at home. This is not intended to be a public track, no races will be held here nor will it in any way shape or form be open to the public!
He’s just a kid trying to make it in a difficult career. Here’s a response from someone named Kelly Frazer:
These people ought to be strung up, IMHO. Major portions of the track are right up against property lines, and construction was done with total disregard to set-backs, to say nothing of the impact this might have on adjacent properties. No application for a permit, no environmental impact statements. Numerous rules and regs about such constructions totally ignored. And now they claim they will sign up for a conditional use permit, whereby they will agree to whatever conditions the county might impose which would then allowing them to continue. Asking for forgiveness, vs permission. These scofflaws say the track is strictly private, not open to the public. They also claim that go-carts these days run on batteries, so noise is minimal. Pure speculation. I believe there is no precedent for such a facility within this zoning area, so the county has nothing to base any decision on. They will have to make up whatever conditions would be imposed in order to agree that such a conditional use permit can be issued. So there is the rub. I believe the permitting system is set up to favor issuing conditional uses in this neighborhood. Valid conditional uses include doctor’s offices, day care centers, and a number of others that have precedence and presence in the area. It is possible that the county will agree with its other residents that such a facility can never be permitted, and that there are no conditions adequate to allow such a thing. Of course the lawyers hired by the track owners say that they will conform to whatever conditions might be imposed, which position assumes that a set of conditions can be put forward. I think the county should come down hard on these people, deny any such activity as impossible to precondition, and then make them adhere to wet land remediation and removal of all structure within prior agreed to and recorded set-backs. Under penalty of fine. If they put me in charge, that’s what I’d do. But I’m not in charge, never will be, and since lawyers are involved, there will be a fight, it will not be pretty, great amounts of time and yet more money will be wasted toward an outcome that I can’t predict.
That bit about not getting permits is true, according to Siperko, who has airtight logic:
“I called paving companies, and they told me that it’s my property. If it’s not touching a main road I don’t need a permit. It’s my property and I believed that” said Siperko, “I’m not in a neighborhood. This is a family farm.”
I cannot confirm that the image from Facebook is accurate, but a search of county records seems to confirm that it’s correct:
The area highlighted in black is the property listed as owned by Siperko and you can see a house that’s registered to a different owner right at the edge of the track.
There was a community meeting a few weeks ago and this was addressed, though most people seemed unhappy according to a Baltimore Fishbowl reporter who attended the meeting:
Nearly all who spoke at the meeting argued against the track, though degrees of animosity toward it varied. Some went so far as to insult Siperko’s parenting directly. Most, though, focused on the impact of the racetrack on their quality of life, property value, and the environment.
“It’s so frustrating,” said JoJo Lerner, a resident who also lives on Mink Hollow Road. “He said he Googled, and he didn’t see that he needed a permit for this. But it wasn’t just that. He didn’t talk to any of his neighbors. He didn’t tell anyone…. It definitely lowers the value of everyone’s property around it, because who wants to live right next to this go-kart thing?”
Surprising your neighbors with a race track, if they are not me, probably isn’t going to work. Even I can see that. It’s now on the Howard County government to determine if a conditional use with some restrictions (limited hours/electric karts only) will be accepted or if he’ll have to remove the track.
This Could Have Probably Been Done Better
Far be it for me to suggest how someone else should raise his kids, but perhaps it would have been more successful if there had been some discussion with neighbors before the track was finished. This guy is a roofer so he’s probably filed a permit before.
If he’d have asked me I’d have definitely said yes to the track. Even a high-powered modern go-kart isn’t that much louder than the kind of yard equipment that many community neighbors either use or contract out to other people to use on their behalf.
Of course, Thomas made the great suggestion in Slack that maybe some arrangement would have to be made. In order for the track to be usable the dad would have to agree that my family gets some use of the facility. This is really a boon for everyone as steel sharpens steel and it would give Achilles someone to race against (in this case I would be the steel getting sharpened).
If you want one badly enough and file the permits, this isn’t an impossible journey. Alan Wilzing built a race track in his front yard and it only took him an estimated $500,000 in legal fees to get it through the local government. It’s all worth it for an IndyCar contract, right?
This lot is zoned RRDEO which is Residential Rural zoning with a DEO overlay.
Setback: All uses (other than structures) not accessory to farming or single-family detached dwellings shall be at least 50 feet from public street rights-of-way and 30 feet from all other lot lines.
That took 5 minutes. And I didn’t even know the address. Looks generally like it is closer then 30 ft to at least two of the neighboring lot lines.
Also, I don’t this is an approved accessory use based on the list in the zoning code.
Whether you like the rules or not, they are what they are. And these were some of the easiest to find I have ever encountered. That county website is so easy to use, I’m amazed. I’m guessing there are possibly more rules that would apply. But clearly this person gave zero fucks about the laws or his neighbors. And now he is dealing with the consequences.
Cool track though. Something I wish I could do (legally, of course)
This is the other side of all the race tracks that have closed in recent (and not so recent) years because of urban encroachment. While I support the tracks that existed before the houses were built, as an intellectually honest and consistent car enthusiast, I tend to side with the other homeowners when someone creates a nuisance in an existing neighborhood.
I love the Autopian, I really do… but I wish they’d tread a little more carefully on issues involving building, permits and zoning.
It’s a hot-button issue that gets people wound up. Congratulations. You got your “clicks.”
It’s also an incredibly complicated subject with very real life-safety and quality of life implications that are not easy to understand – or explain in the comments on a car web site. There’s a reason engineers and architects have to be licensed.
I used to work in Baltimore. “Suburban Baltimore” is not “in the country.” This family has neighbors close by. How loud is this going to be for them? Has run-off been dealt with or are they going to flood the neighboring property from all of this new impermeable pavement? How fast do these carts go? Is there any possibility a driver loses control and winds up hitting something (or someone) on a neighboring property?
Short story… this isn’t a simple issue of “bad/excessive government regulations.” But it is certainly an issue of an inconsiderate, entitled asshole of a neighbor.
Achilles Heel and Toe
If you want to avoid proper permitting, you have to talk to the neighbors. They agree to look the other way and the county doesn’t come take a look. If someone from the county happens upon it in a few years, you have been conspicuously using the track for some time and it’s harder for them to come down on you.
If you don’t want to talk to the neighbors, make sure your paperwork is perfect. When they complain, you have all the proper permits and have filed everything with the county. It’s all above board.
Knowing your neighbors and getting them onboard has other benefits, too. Maybe they want to use the track sometimes and they’ll pitch in on maintenance. Maybe they know a guy at the county who can get you that permit without much fuss. Or they notice somebody snooping around, since you obviously have some valuable toys for that track.
Sounds like this guy is probably unpleasant in general, and perhaps wanted to antagonize his neighbors.
Permitting can be a nuisance. It’s also a critical life safety issue in many cases. Going without one can put you, your family and future owners at risk. And doing so knowingly makes you liable if, say, your unpermitted roof work was done without proper “hurricane ties” and your roof gets ripped off in a storm.
For a contractor to do work that requires a permit… without one would be illegal in most cases. Most licensed contractors wouldn’t do it… as it puts their business at risk. And if you use an unlicensed contractor? You don’t have any recourse if they screw up. The “local authority having jurisdiction” is likely to tell you “tough shit” – the work was illegal to begin with.
What an inconsiderate asshole. I wouldn’t have waited for him to finish before getting him shut down.
I’ve served on municipal design review boards. Can regulations go too far? Sure. But better that than let any jackass build whatever they want… the community be damned.
He just forgot step 1: 8 foot privacy fence at proper setback from the road.
After that, they can mind their own business. For all they know, he mows his yard alot.
An 8′ privacy fence will require a building permit in almost every jurisdiction. And not without good reason. Wind loads on a structure that high can be severe. Unless designed correctly… it _will_ get knocked over in a strong storm.
He called pavers who told him this was OK? Were these the ones he was getting quotes from? Why not call an attorney? I know why: he knew what the answer would be and figured he’d play the “ask for forgiveness” game after. It also rides right along the property line where the land is pretty open straight to the neighbors’ houses so the noise travels right to it. This guy sucks.
Yard equipment is obnoxiously loud, so that’s not a good example to argue for this guy, and at least it’s a sign of people keeping up their properties, which helps the neighborhood in terms of property values and they run for much shorter times than this kid would be running the gocart, especially if Achilles (give me a f’n break and I’m part Greek!) is really trying to be the next Verstappen. It’s also a potential air quality issue with tire particulates and exhaust (if gas) and absolutely would negatively impact home values. I wouldn’t buy one of those surrounding houses, especially for how expensive they must be. I’ve had trash neighbors in a much lower class neighborhood (constantly burning shit in the yard, loud parties all night, “landscaping company” truck that never seemed to leave the driveway, various drifters with muffler-less vehicles leaving at 4 AM, dogs left out whining in freezing weather until animal control finally arrives again—even if they never actually did anything—and a young kid who exhibited multiple signs of being molested who suddenly disappeared one day) and my lack of interest in going to prison is why my neighbors now are animals. I can’t imagine paying a big mortgage and have a decent amount of land and still having to deal with noisy trash people imposing their bullshit into my life. Even Canada geese are better than humans and the howl of coyotes is practically music, certainly better than top 15 trashy hits of the ’70s on repeat.
Yeah. I used the same contractor to put up a couple of buildings over the past year, both tines he wanted his crews to start work before I had permits, because he didn’t need to see them to get the work done, in his mind, the county just needed one issued before I could use the building. No, not how that works, I’m not spending money to build a structure only to be told later that it isn’t to code and has to be torn down, permits first
I have to assume he’s done work for other people who were OK with doing things backwards. Did a nice job, and was cheap, but definitely a situation where you have to watch
The dad looks like Paul Tracy.
I don’t care how the neighbors feel or how the father feels. The only thing that matters is what the law is and what regulations apply. Ignorance of the law is not an excuse, so if he violated the zoning or environmental regulations, appropriate actions should be taken. If he did not, the Karen’s need to shut it, and move if they do not like it.
Everyone knows the laws are just what you Google! Talk to the county or city permitting office? Pffftttt.
I’m confused, is he or is he not part of a community/neighborhood/town etc. or is this a bunch of houses outside of town? Was he the property owner first and are there deed restrictions? Does Maryland have any actual restrictions on personal property use on a county level? While it probably would have been more polite to talk to the neighbors and a real estate attorney would have been beneficial, I think it’s ultimately his property and his business if the other stipulations aren’t present.
I have a co-worker that had a ranchette neighborhood with deed restrictions build adjacent to his property he has owned for 15 years with no restrictions and they regularly send him letters and knock on his door for not adhering to their deed restrictions. If this is the same sort of restrictions, I’d say the neighbors should go kick rocks.
It’s not about deed restrictions, it’s about zoning laws, drainage requirements, setbacks, noise regs, etc.
Yea I could see all of that being relevant if they lived in a a zoning restricted area. Short of deed restrictions, you’re pretty clear to do whatever you want on county where I live, so long as you aren’t dumping toxic waste. I’m curious if a) the same applies in Maryland and b) if they actually fall in an area where said zoning/drainage/setback etc. actually apply. If they do then he needs to take the big L. If they don’t, then this is a case of crappy rich neighbors complaining about crappy rich neighbors.
I live in a rural area, but in a county that has pretty strict rules on zoning and land use. Based on this area, I’d expect it is similiar. The property is located between DC and Baltimore hardly a rural backwater. Here’s a link to the County Code if you want to dig in and put yourself to sleep.
https://library.municode.com/md/howard_county/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=HOCOCO_TIT16PLZOSULADERE
Ah got it, it’s wild how different the laws can be from county to county, state to state and region to region. Thanks for digging that up!
That’s what they are all in the process of figuring out. the county thinks they are in the right to tell him to stop. The owner believes the county is wrong. and it’s going to the courts.
Speaking as a permitting bureaucrat of 16 years for a local utility….
First mistake – asking contractors if a permit is required. Always ask the local permitting agencies, not the contractors because the contractors will say whatever you want to hear and they’re almost always wrong. Permits and the subsequent inspections exist to protect the homeowner from unscrupulous contractors. Then the owner gets screwed with the fine when unpermitted work is caught.
Second, if zoning applies – it doesn’t always – then the government’s job is to protect neighbors while allowing the private use of private land. Setbacks and landscape buffers would probably be enough to satisfy zoning. We walk a delicate line when developers come knocking.
Third, begging forgiveness is a sure way to get me to come down hard on you and hold you to the letter of the law. I will force you to comply will all the rules. If you come to me up front I will help you find loopholes and try to save you money, but we’ll get it done right and we’ll do it together.
As a neighboring resident, I’d say I’m probably fine with it as long as it’s not noisy. I have a neighbor who is addicted to her leaf blower and I can’t keep windows open in nice weather, can’t use the back yard for hours at a time because of the racket. A gas powered race kart would not be welcome, though electric would probably go unnoticed. Just keep it quiet, make it look nice, and maybe give me the occasional lap and we’re good.
Agreed on all accounts. If the contractor thinks they can get in an out (which they were clearly able to do) without permits, they probably will. And that’s assuming they are actually telling the truth about asking the contractor rather than them telling the contractor how it was going to go down. And I assume they pulled it off because the neighbors thought they must be grading for a foundation or driveway or something, but that must have taken a couple of days all in (or they didn’t built it properly, which as you said is the risk if the inspector isn’t holding your contractor accountable).
I’m probably more lenient than most on the noise coming from a go-kart or a dirtbike or something like that (during reasonable hours anyway). Leaf blowers are the worst. The electric ones are better and really only annoying if you are fairly close. But two stroke engines running WOT for a extended periods are going to drive anyone crazy. That said, if someone built a kart track right next to my house and a lot further from their house, I’d probably be belligerent about it. Especially if they didn’t ask me about it and I really enjoyed the views/wildlife/etc outside my window (which, of course isn’t my right as it’s not my property, but it’s reasonable to assume whatever is built there will be a house tucked in the trees not a bunch of pavement)
all the work was probably done without a contract too just “hey i know a guy”
It’s good to know a guy. Being a roofing contractor probably helps you to know some other contractor type folks. Sometimes you want to know a guy because you don’t want to get swindled by some rando. Sometimes you want to know a guy because you don’t want to pull a permit for something….
Random Question. If you hire a contractor but put it in your contract a clause that the contractor is responsible for all necessary permits would that absolve the property owner of any heat for a permit not being issued?
It would probably not. At best it would give the homeowner the right to sue the contractor for damages.
No. As the property owner that is ultimately your responsibility.
This is gotta be somewhere along the lines of: you live in the suburbs you deal with suburban building codes if you don’t want building codes live in the country. If you want to do things on your own property, that’s great then do not complain about other people if they do something to lower your property value there’s a no-win here. They’re probably should’ve been some consideration to how close to the neighbors, but I’m no expert building codes exist for a reason. They’re often written in blood, but this may not have a lot to do with building codes, but it does have to do with zoning and zoning is the big giant elephant in the room of every decision in this country.
Living in the country isn’t enough, I’m almost surrounded by corn fields on 3 sides of my property, but I still had to do a lines & grades survey, a wetlands statement, and, of course, follow setback rules on all sides to put up a garage and a carport. Rules are rules, and counties pay drone operators for aerial inspections
The yards in my in town neighborhood are just big enough for a slot car track. However, I’ll bet that we have to put up with a lot more noise from the yard crews that come at random times with their two stroke leaf blowers. Karens are gonna Karen.
Omg the leaf blowers. I live in a neighborhood with a lot of vacation homes. Why do these massive lawns need to be keep immaculate 365 days a year? 🙁
I have one neighbor with a commercial blower and she will blow-dry the lawn after every rain – gives it the ol’ fluff & puff. Drives me up a wall.
This is absolutely fucking wild. Blow drying the lawn. I have quite a bit of experience with old retired dudes who are insanely meticulous about their lawns and I’m confident none of them blow dry the fucking things. Don’t you want the grass watered?!
No doubt that natural rainfall messes with the math for her carefully timed sprinklers.
What’s funny is that big commercial blowers are a lot less annoying to hear than leaf blowers. The 40 or 50HP ones the golf courses use don’t have that ridiculous whine and would finish a residential lawn in seconds.
Unpopular opinion – Track Roofer is a shitty neighbor.
It’s wonderful he wants to do this for his kid, but he chose to do it right on the property line, next to an access road that goes to the neighboring properties. There’s no fencing to keep the carts contained to track or his property. It could easily become a safety issues for neighbors using that access road, or even just being on their own land.
He has plenty of property and could have positioned it well away from anyone and chose not it. I’m wondering if he put it there specifically to antagonize his neighbors.
I believe that the guy probably has the right to build this. However the county also has the right to take it away. There is so many ways this could have been done better but this looks like it was so shittilly that it’s a shit show.
There’s three main complaints: 1)Not in my backyard, Property values, jealousy, haters ect. 2)Noise/nuisance. 3)And eyesore.
The track owner is failing on all three counts. Nothing was done at all to mitigate anyone’s complaint he is just made some garbage and is just “i am in my rights deal with it” Shittyest of neighbors indeed.
There is so many ways this Could have been done better: First I would have put a tall fence around it so that nobody driving by even knows what’s behind it. That will solve most of the Eyesore complaints. Secondly, since this is used for go carts specifically I would Pave a giant rectangle and would install the necessary drainage for a parking lot of that size. You could then put up cones or spray paint lines for the go kart track!
Not only is this beneficial for the go kart driver because now you have nearly infinite track layouts you can do! You also now built a “parking lot that just so happens to be used as a go kart track” This solves so much of the other complaints doing it this way!
If i was on the city council that would be my suggestion to issue a conditional permit. Pave a rectangle, Fence it in, No gas engines that are louder than 93db at 2 meters. and motorsports activities can only be done between the hours of 10am to 5pm. If the owner did it this way in the first place he probably would not have as many issues.
I’d propose the opposite: just drive on the lawn immediately adjacent to the track. Preferably with a two stroke leaf blower strapped to the cart for sound effects.
If you want to do whatever you want, you have to go where there are no people. If you want to live around other people, you’ll have to live by the laws the people of that jurisdiction have passed.
Also, kinda got a Ewing fetish there buddy? I literally heard the theme song the moment I looked at the “house” on Street View.
Having grown up in a rural area, Karting noise pales in comparison to the sounds of whatever the hell your neighbours run.
Between mowers, tractors, implements of husbandry, ATVs, dirt bikes, cars with loud exhausts, guns, fireworks, etc..
I fail to see how that track and the kart(s) on it will impact their lives in any meaningful way. Unless as others mentioned, water drainage ends up being a concern.
Which is fixed by the County ordering him to correct, should it be a problem.
Rural areas are typically “live & let live” areas. It appears this one is not.
Karen obviously does not live next door to you.
No, according to my neighbours, the guy living here before me was the Karen of this area.
Now I’m here and we all get along amazingly. They buy my daughter gifts, I clear the snow from their driveway, and no one cares what the other is doing for hobbies. Even though mine are comparatively the loudest.
Not to throw any shit here. But.
I’ve known close to 100 roofers, at least.
They are all basically a bit strange.
Most with limited social interaction skills.
And the ability to think with much rationality.
The heat and sun will do that to ya fastly.
For this reason I am willing to give him a pass here.
But also wonder if the kart exhaust can be silenced a bit more?
I mean this doesn’t seem worse than people that have motocross or atv trails on their property, at least the electric karts would be quieter. Certainly much better than the teens that would ride dirt bikes and ATVs through neighborhood streets where I grew up. Guy probably needed more land or to be more remote to do this properly, maybe a privacy fence might help resolve the issue.