Tycoon’s very lavish gift for his son sparks neighbor’s outrage

A father in Maryland has sparked outrage among neighbors after building a lavish race track on the family’s land for his 10-year-old son.

Every year the Siperko family travels from their home in Weston County to Florida, and sometimes even abroad, to practice racing. Their son, Achilles, has a strong passion for kart racing and hopes to one day become a professional racing driver.

However, his dream often caused him to miss out on a typical childhood lifestyle due to traveling for his racing career.

So his father, Charles, decided to build a race track in the backyard so Achilles could practice somewhere closer to home.

The 48-year-old construction company owner said the project would cost him about $100,000 by the time it was finished in May 2023. However, Siperko didn’t know he would need county or state permission to build it.

Achilles Siperko has a passion for racing and traveled to Florida and around the world to practice, missing the usual childhood experiences

The track was completed in May 2023 and in December neighbors complained, leading to tickets and fines against Siperko

Complaints came in from neighbors in December, leading to citations from both the county and state. Critics claimed that wetlands were disturbed during the track’s construction, according to the Maryland Department of the Environment.

Wetlands, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agencyprovides habitat for wildlife, floodplains and maintains surface water flow during dry periods.

However, the family has filed a petition asking for support to keep their sons’ new track in place. Their petition on change.org highlights neighbors’ concerns about traffic, speeding, wetland disturbance and noise complaints, as well as how the family plans to address any concerns.

‘We didn’t know that we had to withdraw permits, otherwise we obviously wouldn’t have done that. “We may have been naive or simply unaware of the permit requirements and believed the asphalt company when they told us that paving that does not abut a public road does not require a permit,” said Siperko’s wife Sarah Troxel.

The petition states that the intention was never to ignore the law, cause environmental damage or allow public use of the track.

‘If we allow the conditional use, we will resolve all wetland problems… we have stated that we will limit use to electric motors, at certain reasonable times, to reduce noise concerns… When we When we entered the house, we received a previously completed environmental declaration.’ research that showed there were no wetlands in that area,” Troxel continued.

She added that despite their negotiations and proposed agreements to keep the track in place without disturbing neighbors, “they want the entire track torn out simply because they don’t want to look at it or see it in their neighborhood.” ‘want to have.’

Troxel also stated that, in regards to complaints, she “doesn’t see noise as a problem anyway” due to their 11-acre property.

But the neighbors continue to protest.

Dan O’Leary, chairman of the Greater Highland Crossroads Association board of directors, said: ‘It is noise pollution at a very high level. It’s worse than having a rock concert next to your house.”

‘If my son wanted to swim, I could build a swimming pool. If he wanted to play football, we could build a football stadium. Lacrosse, they could play lacrosse, any sport he wanted to do, but I can’t build a race track so he can be a professional driver,” Siperko said

Dan O’Leary, chairman of the Greater Highland Crossroads Association board of directors, said: ‘It is noise pollution at a very high level. It’s worse than a rock concert next to your house.’

O’Leary also said he was surprised the major construction project was built without zoning or environmental permits Yahoo News.

So far, two community meetings have been held to discuss the issue, with last week’s meeting being the first opportunity for nearby property owners to discuss the route with Siperko, his attorney and an engineer.

The course was inspected in January of this year after numerous zoning complaints, and six days later property owners were issued a violation notice for disturbing or filling the wetlands and stream buffer.

The residents have also indicated this themselves petition that the construction of the track is not ‘accessory to a permitted use on a Rural Residential Area’.

Siperko was fined after admitting to building without a permit, and to settle another charge, they filed a conditional use application with the county.

‘We didn’t know that we had to withdraw permits, otherwise we obviously wouldn’t have done that. “We may have been naive or simply unaware of the permit requirements and believed the asphalt company when they told us that paving that is not adjacent to a public road does not require a permit,” said Siperko’s wife, Sarah Troxel.

Every year the Siperko family travels from their home in Weston County to Florida, and sometimes even abroad, to practice racing. Their son, Achilles, has a strong passion for kart racing and hopes to one day become a professional racing driver

According to Lynda Eisenberg, director of the Howard County Department of Planning and Zoning, a public hearing, likely to take place next year, will determine whether the track is permitted under the Howard County Code.

A follow-up inspection in September determined the track was causing unauthorized disturbance of wetlands. It is also said to violate the 100-foot requirement for two neighbors, meaning if a conditional use is allowed, some of the track would have to be removed.

Siperko has said he believes his family is being treated differently than others in the community, Yahoo News reported.

‘If my son wanted to swim, I could build a swimming pool. If he wanted to play football, we could build a football stadium. Lacrosse, they could do lacrosse, any sport he wanted to do, but I can’t build a race track for him to be a professional driver,” Siperko said.

“It’s just a little discouraging.”