MOUNTAIN VIEW COUNTY - Council has postponed a decision on a proposed expansion of the Rocky Mountain Motorsports facility outside Carstairs, carrying a motion at the recent council meeting to put off a decision until the stop order appeal provisions and enforcement conclude.
The $34 million Rocky Mountain Motorsports car racing recreation and training track facility is located at the intersection of Highway 2 and Highway 581 on a 385.64-acre parcel. It opened in September 2022.
The company has made an application for a development permit for a $20,000,000 expansion of the facility that would include the construction of eight buildings containing 80 vehicle storage units.
Five of the eight buildings would house the storage units, and the three additional buildings would include wash bays and washrooms, minor infrastructure and additional sound mitigation including berm and fencing, according to information posted on the county’s website.
The proposed project would see building sizes vary from 55 square meters to 3,113 square meters.
During a special council meeting held on June 12 council passed a motion requesting that administration prepare amended conditions for the development permit prior to council consideration.
On June 29 the county issued a stop order on the property requiring compliance with the sound limits under the original development permit.
“As the current development permit proposes additional sound mitigation measures, administration recommends that decision on (the new permit application) be postponed until the stop order appeal period and enforcement conclude,” said the county's chief administrative officer Jeff Holmes.
The stop order was eligible to be appealed until July 20 and is required to be complied with prior to Aug. 31.
Following the July 12 council meeting, Rocky Mountain Motorsports appealed the stop order to the Land and Property Rights Tribunal (LPRT).
“We are still waiting on a date (for that appeal),” said Holmes. “We originally had a proposed date and we thought it was going to be appealed through the local SDAB (subdivision and development appeal board) but the SDAB had a look at it and from a jurisdictional point of view has referred it to the LPRT due to approvals from Alberta Environment that are involved in the property and proximity to highways.”