The Bulloch County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday evening looked again at a raft of proposed zoning rule amendments touching on future breweries, “conservation subdivisions,” home occupations and even whether a church lot can include a minister’s home. But it was talk of new regulations for “go cart, ATV, motorbike track and trails” that again bogged down the process.

Once again, the commissioners unanimously tabled action on the county staff-proposed bundle of regulations for one month, until their next evening meeting, Dec. 2.

Once again, supporters of Savage Trails RV Park, whose all-terrain vehicle trails have been shut down since Aug. 29 by a county code enforcement order, came to ask that they be allowed to reopen. But owners of the park have meanwhile applied for conditional use permission under the existing zoning rules, and the proposed new rules would not apply retroactively.

The total package of proposed rule changes and definitions, called a zoning text amendment, was first floated to the commissioners Oct. 7. County Planning and Development Director James Pope had presented a draft of the rules to the appointed Planning and Zoning Board for review Sept. 16, and that board unanimously recommended approval.

“I would say in general we just try to update our Zoning Ordinance every so often, no specified routine of when we do,” Pope said in a phone interview Monday. “But when we have enough amendments that we feel like are beneficial to the county, then we go forward and ask these to be in the Zoning Ordinance.”

Savage Trails tie-in

But the P and Z Board presentation came after the county’s code enforcement officers, in coordination with the Georgia Environmental Protection Division, or EPD, served a “cease and desist” order to Savage Trails LLC. This enforcement action effectively closed Savage Trails RV Park and its ATV trails, in the Luke Swamp area in the southeastern part of the county, just as riders were starting to arrive for a planned Labor Day weekend event.

So, supporters of Savage Trails came as a group to the Oct. 7 commissioners meeting to plead that the “mud park,” which several have described as a haven for family fun, should be allowed to reopen.

While acknowledging that Savage Trails had in January 2022 received a conditional use permit to operate a 13.8-acre RV park and campground, county staff asserted that the business had been operating far beyond the approved acreage. In fact, Savage Trails’ intro to its Facebook page touted “24/7 access to 430 acres of trails, mud & fun.”

The county on Sept. 16 rescinded the cease-and-desist regarding the 13.8-acre campground, which is zoned general commercial, but left in effect its order closing the rest of the park as what Pope called “an unpermitted outdoor commercial recreation facility.” Beyond those 13.8 acres, the rest of the property is zoned Ag-5 agricultural.

Tabled since Oct. 7

During the Oct. 7 meeting, after the county commissioners heard Pope’s quick presentation about the overall text amendment package, asked a few questions and heard from Savage Trails’ board vice president Justin Strickland, they voted 5-0 to table the entire zoning amendment package to this week’s meeting. Some other Savage Trails supporters then spoke to commissioners during general “public comments” time.

Since the October meeting, Pope made a small revision to the part of the amendment defining ATV and motorbike tracks and trails. He revised the definition to address a concern, voiced by commissioners Chairman David Bennett, that some people thought the proposed rules would apply to landowners riding trails on their own land.

The proposed, revised definition now refers to “operating a motorcycle, ATV or similar motorized vehicle for commercial gain over a permanent constructed track or course where the continuous use of the land creates a track, trail, or course,” and states, “Individual landowner activity shall be exempt from this definition.”

This is meant to convey that “if you take money” for operating a track or trails, the regulations will apply, Pope explained.

But as now proposed, “individual landowner activity is exempt, so if you’re not taking payment you could, I guess, invite all your friends over to have an ATV ride, and we’re not going to say anything about that,” he said.

New trail rules

If enacted by the commissioners, the new rules for any future “go cart, ATV, motorbike track and trails” would limit such commercial uses to tracts of more than 100 acres, require a plan to keep all the dust raised on the property, limit hours of operation, limit ATV and motorcycle noise levels to 120 decibels and require spark arresters. “All stream crossing shall be by way of a drainage structure (No fording of creeks),” states one specific rule.

Additionally, the entire property would have to be fenced, all trails kept at least 50 feet away from property lines, and “quiet zones” limiting music and other non-vehicle noise would be required up to 500 feet from residential properties.

The amended ordinance would also “generally” require a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers determination of wetlands and that trails proposed to disturb wetlands comply with county regulations and federal law.

Pre-amendment move

But meanwhile, the Savage Trails LLC’s owner or operators have already applied for conditional use permission within Ag-5 zoning for the remaining property under the existing ordinance.

“They have applied for a conditional use, which at the time they filed, obviously, the text amendment is not in place,” Pope had said Monday.

Specifically, this is being done under the old, still current definition of “recreation facility, outdoor commercial.” Since this provision is specifically for “unenclosed recreation facilities,” it would not require a fenced enclosure or many of the other proposed new rules.

Savage Trails’ request is slated to go before the appointed Planning and Zoning Board during its December meeting. A recommendation from there would probably go to the elected Board of Commissioners in January, Pope said.

Tabled a 2nd time

After Pope briefly reintroduced the zoning text amendment during the 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 4 commission meeting, Commissioner Nick Newkirk asked whether, if someone applied for conditional use approval for an ATV trail site on 500 acres under the proposed new rules, they would have to put a fence around the entire 500 acres.

“As far as the portion that they would use, yes,” Pope said. “But the supplemental standards could  be cut through the variance process with Planning and Zoning.”

Newkirk also asked about the requirement for a permit to cross a public street. Pope said this would be a one-time permit for development, like a driveway permit, from the county engineering office. He also noted that the requirement for wetlands delineation by the Army Corps of Engineers, which Newkirk and Commissioner Ray Davis asked about, was standard for other types of developments, such as subdivisions.

“I feel like some of these things we’re overreaching  on,” Newkirk said.

He also asked about a portion of the proposed zoning text amendment unrelated to ATV tracks, the provision for “conservation subdivisions.”

Newkirk then suggested tabling the amendments again, both for further input from the Savage Trails group and consideration of the wording related to conservation easements.

Trails leaders speak

Nathan Field, board president of Savage Trails LLC, spoke during Tuesday’s meeting, reporting that the company has taken significant steps to get in compliance with concerns raised by the EPD and  those presented to the Army Corps of Engineers.

“We’ve hired a professional environmental consulting firm to assess our property, and they completed a preliminary report on October 28, and today the EPD and our environmental consultant had a site visit,” Field said. “Based on those findings, there are no streams buffering violations and no erosion and sedimentation issues on our property in the EPD’s perspective.”

Further, the company will work with the U.S.  Army Corps of Engineers so that “any areas that may be identified as potential wetlands will be blocked off immediately,” he said.

Savage Trails property owner Keith Dixon also spoke to the commissioners.

Commissioner Toby Conner made the motion to table the proposed new regulations to Dec.  2. Newkirk seconded, and the postponement action passed 6-0.