I’m planning to attend the hearing and invite anyone in the area (Raleigh, Greensboro, Charlotte, etc.) to do the same. I’ll be wearing my familiar yellow Spec E30 polo shirt and will carry a small checker flag in support of the new track effort.
The address is 600 S. Salisbury Ave. Spencer, NC
7:00 pm
Carter
[size=4]Raceway back on Spencer agenda
by Dave Risdon[/size]
SPENCER - We are happy to report that the Spencer Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA) is scheduled for to hear and vote upon High Rock Raceway’s request for a conditional use permit to operate a Country Club Racetrack at its 200 acre property located at 2555 Highway 29 North in the Town of Spencer.
The meeting starts at 7 p.m. [Thursday, August 2] in the Spencer Municipal Building board room.
We would like to invite all of our supporters to attend this meeting and demonstrate to the town of Spencer and the Zoning Board of Adjustment their overwhelming enthusiasm for High Rock Raceway. Your attendance at this meeting is important because we do anticipate opposition from Ann Brownlee and the Trading Ford Historic District Preservation Association and their lawyer, Darrell Fruth of the Greensboro law firm of Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard LLP.
Not a battlefield
Ms. Brownlee and her lawyer have made objections at prior Zoning Board of Adjustment hearings pertaining to High Rock regarding the details of our conditional use permit application, such as the proper labeling of buildings on the site plan.
They have focused on the details of the application in the hopes of stalling our efforts and deflating our will to move ahead with our project. With the help of our lawyers and site engineers, we have submitted an extremely well-detailed and complete conditional use permit application. Once our application is found to be sufficient, Ms. Brownlee and her lawyer will be left to make their arguments regarding the issues at hand.
Ms. Brownlee claims the proposed location of our racetrack is the heart of a Civil War battlefield. This is patently false, and as Ms. Brownlee knows, and as we have confirmed with well-recognized experts in the field, the Civil War skirmish to which she refers took place on the railroad trestles near (but not on) our property.
Ms. Brownlee is infamous for delaying projects in the Trading Ford area, including the planned construction of a new Interstate 85 bridge that was to cross the Yadkin River between Rowan and Davidson counties and would have replaced the existing bridge -which was built in 1955 and is now considered functionally obsolete. Because the bridge has not been replaced, Interstate 85 now dangerously funnels into two lanes on each side of its Yadkin River crossing, causing numerous traffic accidents. What was initially a $175 million budget to build a new Yadkin River bridge is now estimated at $350 million.
Who is Stephen Horton?
Ms. Brownlee does not own land adjacent to High Rock Raceway, and she is not a resident of the Town of Spencer. She has, however, demonstrated she will go to any extreme to delay or stop projects in or around the Trading Ford area. She has in the past admitted that she receives little in donations to fund her cause, yet somehow she has retained Mr. Fruth, who has stated publicly that he is being paid for his work on this matter. We understand that Mr. Stephen Horton of the Richmond, Va., office of McGuire Woods Consulting originally hired Mr. Fruth on behalf of Ms. Brownlee. Mr. Horton is a lobbyist with McGuire Woods and works on behalf of conservative causes in Virginia.
Mr. Horton, who to our knowledge has never demonstrated any interest or concern whatsoever for historical causes in North Carolina, has stated that he is working pro-bono on behalf of Ms. Brownlee. Mr. Horton, who was chief of staff for the Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore, a Republican who served from 1998 to 2002. In Gilmore’s administration, Horton worked with Joshua Lief, who served as Secretary of Commerce and is now general manager of Virginia International Raceway - High Rock’s nearest potential competing venue to the north.
We move ahead
Despite any obstacles Ms. Brownlee, Mr. Fruth or Mr. Horton may attempt to throw in our way, we will move ahead with determination. We have in the past received the full support of Spencer aldermen and the Zoning Board of Adjustment. More than 1,300 individuals have signed the Support the High Rock Raceway petition, which you can find online at www.petitiononline.com/hrir and thousands visit our Web site - www.racehighrock.com - each month.
High Rock Raceway represents the redevelopment of an abandoned textile mill and new growth in an area that has been long neglected and direly needs economic stimulus. High Rock Raceway will help spark growth in the surrounding area, represents a significant increase in the tax base for the town of Spencer and will bring racing enthusiasts from throughout the United States and abroad to Spencer.
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Dave Risdon is the majority owner and developer of High Rock Raceway.
