CARSTAIRS -- The development permit application for a proposed $11-million motorsports facility east of Carstairs is scheduled to come before Mountain View County council on May 22 for consideration.
Rocky Mountain Motorsports (RMM) is proposing the construction of a 3.5-kilometre recreation and training racetrack at the southeast corner of Highway 2 and Highway 581.
The project will require a realignment of Rge. Rd. 10A and a rebuild of a half mile of Rge. Rd. 10.
The application, including detailed engineering plans and required reports, was submitted to the county in February for review by administration.
The project is expected to create up to 1,000 new jobs for the Carstairs-Mountain View County region during construction and on an ongoing basis once it is completed, says RMM president and CAO Dominick Young.
RMM obtained approval in 2017 from Mountain View County council for its motorsports park concept plan and a direct control land use bylaw was passed for the development.
Public hearings were held earlier for the property involved when the application was made to change the designation to direct control.
“It went through that process to direct control and that was finally approved. It went through the public hearing process and that was quite a lengthy process,” said Reeve Bruce Beattie.
“So now there is an application for a development permit. They (the company) have been working with staff to put that together.”
Since council will have to consider whether to approve the development permit, councillors are “staying out of any kind of discussion until it comes forward because we certainly don’t want to have any indication of bias,” he said.
If and when the development permit is approved, construction could then begin, he said.
Mountain View County council passed a motion approving the change in designation to direct control in April 2017 following a public hearing process. They also passed a second related bylaw. Bylaw No. 14/16 re-designates a 545.64-acre parcel from agricultural district to direct control, and Bylaw No. 15/16 amends Bylaw No. 12-15 (the Wessex area structure plan) to re-identify SE 12-30-1-5 from low density residential to business park.
The approved re-designations came with a number of conditions, including the following:
• Add to definitions – drag racing – a type of motor racing in which automobiles or motorcycles compete, usually two at a time, to be first to cross the finish line. The race follows a short straight course from a standing start over a measured distance.
• An on-site fire protection plan, including on-site equipment and on-site professionally trained staff, shall be submitted to the local fire department for approval with confirmation provided as part of the development permit application.
• An emergency response plan, including equipment and on-site professionally trained staff, shall be submitted as part of the development permit application.
• Above-ground sour gas facilities shall be protected by vehicle barrier devices sufficient to prevent impact with said facilities.
• The operator shall be responsible to collect sound data at the boundary of the site, and provide said data to the county, to support compliance with these permitted levels. The noise management plan shall address how the noise levels will be managed to fall within the permitted levels.
The development permit application is scheduled to come before council at the May 22 council meeting.
According to a request for decision (RFD) in the May 22 council agenda package, council will be asked to consider approval of the proposed Motorsports Racetrack Phase 1 which includes “administrative trailer, medical trailer, washroom trailer, race control trailer, staging and viewing paddock area, accessory building and use (helicopter pad), berm, fence, parking facility (parking lot), and site preparation.”
The RFD includes 27 proposed conditions, including that no drag strips or drag racing will be permitted at the site at any time. The complete RFD, including engineering plans and reports, can be found on the county’s website.
