Will a YouTube star’s popular Florida attraction be threatened by a bunch of new houses?

Supporters of YouTube star Cleetus McFarland came out in force Thursday to oppose a large-scale housing development near his popular Freedom Factory racetrack in Myakka City.

Developers pitched a plan to build a new housing development just southwest of McFarland’s 63-acre property, which serves as the base of operations for his YouTube channel with more than three million subscribers. The Freedom Factory was formerly known as the DeSoto Memorial Speedway when it opened in the 1970s.

Schroeder-Manatee Ranch asked the Manatee Board of County Commissioners to approve a Comprehensive Plan update that would allow the developer to move forward with building Taylor Ranch, a community with 4,500 residential units, a 20-acre school site and a cell phone tower on about 2,300 acres of land east of Bourneside Boulevard and south of State Road 64.

The large tract of property is also just beyond the county’s Future Development Area Boundary (FDAB) line. The FDAB line is the geographic marker that restricts where county government provides certain services, such as sewer and water lines.

McFarland and other Myakka City residents say the new Taylor Ranch community, which is slated to become an extension of the master-planned Lakewood Ranch development, clashes with the country traditions that residents have come to enjoy, including loud races and stunt driving.

According to the site plan shared by Schroder-Manatee Ranch, nearly 700 homes will be in the area closest to the racetrack. The 20-acre school site is also planned in that northeast corner.

Commissioners voted 5-2 to approve SMR’s request. Commissioner James Satcher and Jason Bearden voted against the motion. County officials will transmit the request for state review. A general development plan for the site will be proposed in February.

Will new homes be too close to racetrack?

“This is the racetrack,” McFarland said during a previous public meeting, pointing to a map to show how close Taylor Ranch is to the Freedom Factory property. “Although I like the idea of sound abatement, you tell me if you’ll be able to hear those race cars with a 25-foot fence in between.”

“I’m just being realistic that these neighbors are going to hear the racetracks,” he added.

It’s noisy by nature. McFarland’s popular YouTube channel features countless videos of sleek sports cars and tricked-out trucks doing laps and drag races on the race track he purchased in 2020. One recent video highlights a twin turbo-engine Porsche that “SCREAMS around the Freedom Factory.”

Those hobbies, which often attract large crowds of spectators, would likely disturb incoming homeowners, more than 50 people spoke in opposition to the project.

“Right now, we don’t have a problem and you guys have an opportunity to keep it that,” Chris Nelson, a Manatee County resident, told board members. “You have a unique opportunity to stop it while there is no problem.”

“These tracks were built in the ‘70s and I would consider them a landmark in Manatee County,” said Victor Alvarez, owner of the Bradenton Motorsports Park dragstrip that is next door to the Freedom Factory. “Motorsports is a lifestyle. If something changes, it puts us out of business and that’s something we want to avoid.”

Those residents found support from several board members, who shared fond memories of visiting the racetrack with their families.

“There’s going to be a racetrack in that location for all of our lives and we’re going to make sure of it,” Commissioner George Kruse said.

“I spent a lot of time out there when I was a kid. It was a tradition,” Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge added. “Not every county has a racetrack, and we want to protect that. The new residents just have to understand they’re living next to an operating racetrack.”

McFarland also explained that he uses the speedway as a near-daily operation. The YouTube celebrity, whose real name is Garrett Mitchell, posts car-themed videos filmed at the racetrack almost every day.

In a January 2020 video announcing his $2.2 million purchase of the property, Mitchell described the DeSoto Speedway, which he renamed the Freedom Factory, as “the ultimate content playground.”

McFarland’s star power was on full display during Thursday’s Land Use Meeting. The county’s live stream of the public meeting, which usually attracts a handful of viewers, attracted around 15,000 viewers as officials discussed the controversial proposal.

Lakewood Ranch seeks noise reduction with buffer

But developers told commissioners they plan to use “noise mitigation technology” to reduce the impact of loud sounds coming from the racetrack.

Schroeder-Manatee Ranch said they plan to go above and beyond to install an 84-foot-wide buffer between the homes closest to the racetrack. That buffer would include a 10-foot berm to block sound, as well as a 25-foot-high wall.

That buffer zone would also include large trees to reduce sound coming from the racetrack, planners said. Kyle Grimes, a land use attorney representing Schroeder-Manatee Ranch, said they don’t want to put the racetrack out of business.

“Our client has no intention to do anything that affects them operating. We know it’s there and we’re going to buffer for it,” said Grimes.

According to planners, the distance from the racetrack to the nearest home in the planned development is about 400 feet.

“We’re trying to create a method that these can coexist. I understand it’s not going to stop and shut off the noise, but it is going to mitigate the noise,” Grimes said.

Several board members and racetrack supporters were unimpressed with the noise mitigation techniques. Commissioner Vanessa Baugh, who lives about 7 miles away from the tracks, said she can occasionally hear the cars at her house.

“Nothing is going to stop the sound,” Baugh said. “I know better.”

“At the end of the day, our client wants to be able to sell homes here,” said Grimes. “Recognizing the existing use, we want to install as much noise mitigation as possible.”

SMR says it will also include a disclaimer for home-buyers in the Taylor Ranch community. All incoming residents will be required to sign a form acknowledging the nearby operation of the racetracks and the noise they create.

History of the DeSoto Speedway Racetrack

According to Manatee County’s archives, the DeSoto Memorial Speedway has been in the Myakka City area just south of Lake Manatee State Park on State Road 64 for more than 50 years.

Before the DeSoto Speedway, there was the SaraMana Speedbowl, which was later renamed the Sarasota-Bradenton Speedway. The popular oval track opened in 1952, according to Speedway and Road Race History, a website dedicated to the history of motorsports.

The Sarasota-Bradenton Speedway was located just south of 60th Avenue West and 14th Street West in South Bradenton. As urban development continued to spread, the property owners in 1971 sold the land, which later became housing.

But the DeSoto Speedway filled the gap left behind by providing a place to race stock cars far away from the homes that were being built in the heart of Bradenton.

Gene Tharpe, a former racecar driver who won races at the Sarasota-Bradenton Speedway, worked with county officials to build the DeSoto Speedway out east in the 1970s. On Thursday, Tharpe asked commissioners to continue protecting the racetrack he built more than 50 years ago.

“I encourage this commission to carefully evaluate the protections that are necessary to keep this facility strong and safe and be available for residents of Manatee County,” Tharpe said.

What happens next?

Manatee County commissioners voted to approve the first step in SMR’s request, which triggers the state review of the developer’s proposal. State officials will review the proposal and provide comments at a later date.

The Taylor Ranch project will come back before the Manatee County Commissioner in February when planners seek approval of the general development plan, which will share more details about the design and layout of the community.

In the meantime, board members urged SMR to work with racetrack stakeholders to come up with a better agreement that acknowledges and protects the right for the racetracks to continue operating the way they have for more than 50 years.

“Let it go to the state, and then it comes back here, and we’ll play some hardball to get it protected the best that it can be because that’s what is important at this time,” said Baugh.

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