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After hours of testimony, applicant withdraws Raceway Fund LLC redevelopment application
Summary
A multi-hour combined hearing on the Raceway Fund LLC proposal (large-scale expansion of the Woody Creek racetrack) produced dozens of speakers for and against the project, detailed staff findings recommending denial under the county's nonconforming-use rules, and ended with the applicant requesting—and the board accepting—withdrawal so the proposal can be reworked.
Pitkin County staff recommended denying the Raceway Fund LLC request to expand and materially change the legal nonconforming Woody Creek racetrack, and after a multi-hour hearing that drew dozens of in-person speakers on both sides, the applicant asked to withdraw the combined application. The board voted to accept the withdrawal.
Community Development staff framed the hearing around section 9-50-30 of the land-use code, the threshold that governs expansion of nonconforming uses. Franco Palumbo told commissioners staff found the proposal "goes well beyond reconstruction or safety improvements" and concluded the combined application (which included a large clubhouse, vehicle storage, multifamily affordable units, a clay shooting range and expanded year-round operations) would create materially greater intensity, increase noise and traffic, and be inconsistent with the Woody Creek master plan. "Staff found that the proposal goes well beyond reconstruction... and staff therefore recommends denial," Palumbo said.
Applicant representatives presented technical studies and a list of community benefits—employee housing, water reuse, a 450,000-gallon fire water tank and on-site training space—that they said would mitigate impacts and deliver local services such as first-responder training and youth driving programs. The applicant's consultants presented sound-monitoring results showing variable audibility at six test locations and engineers who described a 15-gpm tested well, a large water tank sized for fire flows, and stormwater and wastewater reuse systems.
Public comment ran for several hours and included detailed opposition from neighborhood groups, the Brush Creek Landowners Association, the Woody Creek Caucus and dozens of residents citing noise, wildfire risk, wildlife impacts, traffic and incompatibility with RS-20 zoning. Opponents urged the board to uphold code limits on nonconforming-use expansion. Supporters—drivers, youth-program participants and some former members—said the facility provides unique training and youth opportunities and could be modernized with mitigation.
After hearing from staff, consultants, and the public, the applicant said it would withdraw the application, take public concerns into account, and likely return after revising the proposal. The board voted to accept the withdrawal, ending the hearing without a final land-use decision on the plan as submitted.
