A go-cart track that has drawn the ire of neighbors may be permanently closed.
Rowan County commissioners listened to 90 minutes of debate and evidence Monday evening before unanimously upholding the ruling of Zoning Administrator Marion Lytle.
Lytle had previously ruled that Millbridge Speedway at 6604 Mooresville Highway had lost its status as a nonconforming use in the rural agriculture district.
Neighbors had offered testimony that the speedway had not held a race in more than a year.Under the county’s zoning ordinance, nonconforming uses left vacant, abandoned or discontinued for a period of 360 days lose their status.
Track owners Al and Barbara Welter of China Grove brought with them receipts, witnesses and an attorney, Jay Dees of Ketner and Associates.
Dees methodically laid out a case for appeal to Rowan Superior Court. He cited court rulings statewide showing that intent to do business was sufficient.
Al Welter testified that since he and his wife bought the track in 1989, they had leased it to several different people who put on races. Welter said he ran into difficulties when one tenant left and took all the equipment, including the lights used to start the race.
In late 1999, however, Welter signed a lease with Glenn Chapman, a longtime go-cart racer who had been seriously injured in an accident at the track several years ago.
Welter and Chapman detailed the work needed to get the track back into shape. Welter submitted receipts showing he spent almost $14,000 trying to get the track ready for races.
Welter and Chapman admitted there hadn’t been a sanctioned race at the track in more than a year. However, they stipulated that in March 2000, several racers held an impromptu event to test the track conditions.
Neighbors said there was no race of any kind. Jackie and Danny Shaw of 6328 Mooresville Road said they had kept close watch on the track after finding out from planners about the rule on nonconforming status.
Jackie Shaw said she remembered well the last race, in May 1999, when the noise was unbearable and continued late into the night. She said that when she called the speedway, they told her to “go to hell.”
Chairman Steve Blount struggled throughout the hearing to keep opponents from describing the noise, the trash and other problems associated with the track. Blount said the only issue was whether the track had been abandoned or discontinued for 360 days.
On Monday evening, the Welters’ attorney challenged Lytle’s authority to make the final ruling. Dees questioned Lytle, the county planner, about when and how he was appointed zoning administrator or enforcement officer.
Lytle said he was never formally assigned the job by any board but assumed it with the enactment of county zoning on Feb. 16, 1998.
Prior to the meeting, commissioners and staff had chatted and whispered about the issue of Lytle’s authority, indicating a records search had failed to find any formal action appointing him as zoning administrator.
Blount told the Welters that they can seek rezoning of the tract to commercial-business-industrial, which would allow the track to reopen.
Commissioners had previously enacted a moratorium on all racetracks until July 14.
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