ZBA HEARING SCHEDULED FOR HIGH ROCK RACEWAY!
We need you at the Hearing on August 2nd
We are happy to report that our Town of Spencer, North Carolina, Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA) hearing has been scheduled for Thursday evening, August 2nd, at 7:00 p.m. at the Town of Spencer Municipal Building Board Room (see below for address). This hearing is for the ZBA to hear and vote upon High Rock Raceway’s request for a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) to operate a Country Club Racetrack at its 200 acre property located at 2555 Highway 29 North in the Town of Spencer.
We would like to invite all of our supporters to attend this meeting and demonstrate to the Town of Spencer and the ZBA 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, North Carolina law firm of Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard, LLP.
The Track is not on a Civil War Battlefield
Ms. Brownlee and her lawyer have made objections at prior ZBA hearings pertaining to High Rock regarding the details of our CUP 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 CUP 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 that 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 and why is he helping Ann Brownlee?
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 that 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 a Mr. Stephen Horton of the Richmond, Virginia 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 Governor, Republican Jim Gilmore (served from 1998 to 2002), worked within the Governor’s administration with Joshua Lief, who served as Secretary of Commerce for Governor Gilmore and is now General Manager of Virginia International Raceway – High Rock’s nearest potential competing venue to the North.
We will continue to move ahead!
Despite any obstacles to our progress that 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 the Aldermen and the ZBA of the Town of Spencer. Over 1,300 individuals have signed the Support the High Rock Raceway petition (see below for site address) and thousands visit our website (
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 is dire need of economic stimulus. High Rock will help spark growth in the surrounding area, will represent 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 the Town of Spencer.
WE THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUING SUPPORT!
PLEASE ATTEND THE ZBA HEARING ON AUGUST 2ND AT 7:00 P.M. AND, IF POSSIBLE, ARRIVE AS EARLY AS 6:30 P.M. TO SHOW YOUR SUPPORT AS THE ZBA MEMBERS ARRIVE. FEEL FREE TO BRING PLACARDS DECLARING YOUR SUPPORT FOR HIGH ROCK RACEWAY!
THANK YOU!
Dave Risdon
majority owner and developer
High Rock Raceway
The Town of Spencer Municipal Building (Town Hall) is located at 600 South Salisbury Avenue (Highway 29) at the corner of Sixth Street in the heart of Spencer, North Carolina (phone 704-633-2231).
Go to
http://www.petitiononline.com/hrir to view and/or sign the High Rock Raceway petition
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There's no camber shown, probably no elevation change, no width, no curbing (or type of curbing), no surface type, probably no type to the runoff room (is it deep gravel, sand, grass, what?), etc, etc, etc.
