Motorsports complex plan gets yellow flag

BY JESSIE BURCHETTE
SALISBURY POST

Plans by a NASCAR driver to build a motorsports complex on Caldwell Road have hit trouble at the starting line.

Hut Stricklin, a Winston Cup and Busch driver, has asked for the rezoning of a 10-acre tract along Caldwell Road off N.C. 150. Hut Stricklin Enterprises wants to rezone the property from rural agricultural to industrial.

Plans submitted to the Planning Board call for construction of 42,000-square-foot motorsports racing facility. According to the plan, a small facility would be built near the back of the lot, to be followed by a 150-by-200-foot building as a second phase.

Planners point out that the property borders Kerr Creek and that just under an acre of the property is within the 100-year flood plain.

In a memorandum to the county Planning Board, the staff points out that the Caldwell Road area is primarily residential, with 18 dwellings along 1.8 miles of road. Several agricultural operations are also located along the road, including Patterson Farms’ tomato operation.

Planners are recommending against the rezoning, citing the proximity of adjacent residences.

“The rural setting could be compromised by the improper location of an industrial district,” wrote planners.

The board will conduct a courtesy public hearing on the rezoning at its 7:30 p.m. meeting Monday. The board will make a recommendation, but the final decision rests with county commissioners.

Other issues are set for public hearings include the following:

• A request for a conditional-use permit from Carolina Sand Co. to operate a sand-mining operation near the Salisbury Waste Treatment plant on Grubb Ferry Road.

The company currently operates a sand mining facility on Hannah Ferry Road, a short distance below the city of Salisbury’s water intake. No more sand is available at the site due to a lack of flooding in recent years.

The company is seeking to establish a second site and alternate between the two. Peak production is expected to be 7,000 tons or 17.5 truckloads per day.

Planners are recommending approval of the permit with staff verification of the final site plan.

• Harry E. Trexler of Lower Palmer Road is seeking the rezoning of two tracts of land at the intersection of Johnson Dairy Road and U.S. 52. The property is currently zoned rural agricultural. and Trexler wants it changed to commercial business industrial.

Trexler has indicated that he has no specific plans for the property but feels rezoning would make it more attractive to buyers.

Planners are recommending against the rezoning, citing a long-standing policy against rezoning to CBI without specific projects. However, they point out that three other tracts have been rezoned CBI for speculative purposes.

The Planning Board meets at 7:30 p.m. Monday at the County Administrative Offices. Several other items of business are scheduled, including recommendations for the I-85 corridor between Salisbury and China Grove.