From The Charlotte Observer:
Monday, Mar. 19, 2012
Judge dismisses speedways lawsuit
Concord settled for $2.8million to end dispute
By Lukas Johnson
After more than four years of wrangling and deal-making, a Superior Court judge has dismissed a lawsuit against Cabarrus County by Bruton Smith, owner of Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Superior Court Judge Robert Ervin dismissed the lawsuit over development incentives Smith says he is owed.
Speedway representatives have 30 days to file an appeal and say they are considering whether to do so.
The dismissal March 9 comes more than five years after speedway owner Bruton Smith threatened to move Charlotte Motor Speedway out of the area.
That threat came after Concords City Council declined to approve Smiths plans for a drag strip across U.S. 29 from the main track, citing neighbors concerns about noise.
Smiths threat prompted city, county, tourism and other leaders to try many ways of courting Smith to keep him from moving the speedway.
City and county leaders went on to forge an $80million incentives package and offer it to Smith in late 2007. As part of that deal, Smith would build the $60million drag strip and make $200million worth of improvements around the track. Part of the disagreement centers on how much of the $80million the city agreed to provide out of its own budget.
Smith filed the suit in Cabarrus County Superior Court in September 2009, seeking $4million in compensation from the city and county for roadwork and other improvements around the speedway and zMax Dragway. The suit was dropped in hopes that the parties might come to an out-of-court agreement, but it was re-filed May 27, 2011.
Jared Gardner, an attorney with James, McElroy & Diehl in Charlotte, which is representing Smith, said appealing the dismissal is among the options attorneys, Smith and the speedway are considering.
We want the county to honor its commitment of funding $80million in infrastructure improvements, he said. Were asking for whats stated in the amended complaint.
Cabarrus County attorney Richard Koch said the county was never contractually obligated to fund improvements, nor was there a public hearing or a vote by county commissioners on the matter.
There were just so many things wrong with the posture of the lawsuit, said Koch. You can pick at least a half-dozen reasons it had no merit.
The people who deal with most of the issues over there are the people of the city, Koch said. They have the water and sewer; they control the zoning. Those are all city responsibilities, but what started the whole thing was a zoning dispute. The county had no say over that.
Koch said there was an attempt to work something out, but it required speedway to commit to keeping the speedway in Concord.
We gave a number of different reasons why the judge should dismiss it, Koch said. The judge didnt articulate a single one, so, since he didnt state a specific reason, we presume he agreed with the reasons contended by the county.
One reason was that no formal agreement was ever put in writing, and the county Board of Commissioners never took any formal action to approve an agreement. Koch also said business terms were never worked out and nothing ever was put in writing.
We sent over documents, and they said no, but they didnt forge a comprise agreement or counterproposal, said Koch. The countys position was they would never commit to what they said they were willing to do without a commitment from the speedway to stay, which was main thing that never happened.
We could never get together to have a meeting of the minds and hammer out how the agreement was going to work. When it was time to put it on paper, the speedway never appeared willing to make commitments on their part.
Unless the speedway appeals, the county has been relieved of any obligation.
Concord and the speedway reached a deal in June 2011 that included promises of support to the speedway worth $2.8million. Concord, which had three years to pay off the settlement amount, has already paid the entire amount using reserve funds.
Concord Mayor Scott Padgett said the citys settlement was necessary for the continued development of the area.
The settlement allowed the city to acquire easements, engineering documents and public rights-of-way throughout the speedway property to make development possible. The deal is intended to ease traffic congestion, support development of the Carolina Thread Trail and help with improvements throughout the Interstate 85 Exit 49 area.
The reason we came to an agreement is that when the speedway was built in the 60s, it wasnt in the (Concord) city limits. It was a very rural property operating off septic tanks and wells, said Padgett. It was a very reasonable settlement, because we received tangible assets that will benefit the way we can access our utilities in the future.
Its very significant, and it lays to rest any issues we couldve had with accessing these utilities. We obtained tangible benefits.
The speedway asked the city to annex it and provide water and sewer service in 1987, and the City Council approved the annexation.
As the sport grew, they realized a need for water and sewer to serve the thousands and thousands of fans, said Padgett. It was in our long-term best interest to install utilities, but we havent had clear rights-of-way to access utilities, and certain water issues needed to be cleared up for years.
The city also obtained speedway easements along south side of Rocky River for Carolina Thread Trail, a regional network of trails and greenways.
The speedway, off Exit 49 of Interstate 85, sits near another top tourist draw: Concord Mills mall. Traffic volume in the Exit 49 area is projected to grow by 30percent in a decade, according to the city.
Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/03/17/3102864/judge-dismisses-speedways-lawsuit.html#storylink=misearch#storylink=cpy
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updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:04:08PM