The provincial Land and Property Rights Tribunal (LPRT) has reversed a stop order from Mountain View County (MVC) directed at Rocky Mountain Motorsports (RMM). The stop order was concerning the planned expansion of the Carstairs-area car racing facility and exceeding sound restrictions.

The property was subject to a stop order by the county on June 29, 2023, which mandated adherence to the sound restrictions stipulated in the first development permit which RMM challenged. 

"The Stop Order alleged that the noise generated by the development (RMM) exceeded the maximum levels specified in a development permit (DP) condition amended at Council to state that sound averaging will not be an acceptable method of reporting. Specifically, peak sound levels recorded on two dates exceeded the specified limit, the Noise Management Plan (NMP) submitted with the application did not comply with the amended condition, and payment of costs as required under the DP had not been made," stated the LPRT.

The Stop Order required the submission of an updated NMP, implementation of measures to ensure compliance and provision of a report from an approved sound consultant verifying noise monitoring measures.

"The Appellant argued the limits were not exceeded, since the amendment to the DP condition concerns reporting requirements and did not change the way the specified maximum noise levels are to be measured to determine compliance. Further, the NMP was valid, and no invoice for payment had been provided; therefore, there was no breach of the DP conditions and the Stop Order should be revoked," mentioned the LPRT.

The LPRT concluded that the three alleged breaches in the Stop Order did not show a lack of compliance with the DP's criteria.

Shadi El Hage, Operations Manager at RMM, stated they have always tried to follow the rules.

"The LPRT ruling confirms that we have been. It shows that we are operating within the approved regulations, so we're just happy to get past this and move forward."

Jeff Holmes, the Chief Administrative Officer of MVC released a statement about the recent decision by the provincial Land and Property Right Tribunal (LPRT).

"Mountain View County is disappointed that the Land and Property Rights Tribunal (LPRT) did not support the County’s interpretation of the development permit.  The County is committed to working with both RMM and area landowners to find the best possible solution to support both economic development and mitigate noise impacts on adjacent landowners.  With the conclusion of the LPRT appeal, the administration will be discussing with both RMM and area landowners to determine the next steps, and the process to resolve the pending RMM development expansion application that the Council placed on hold in July of 2023 pending the outcome of the LPRT decision," stated CAO of MVC, Jeff Holmes.

El Hage stated he is unsure where the relationship is at with MVC as they would still like to invest $20,000,000 to create a facility that would be able to store 80 vehicles.

"It's an important part of our master plan, which the county is well aware of. It's critical to our success so we are looking forward to moving forward with this."

According to El Hage, they are about a year behind in their plan and hope they can get things moving once again as soon as possible.

The Rocky Mountain Motorsports car racing track is located east of Carstairs at the intersection of Highway 581 and Highway Two.

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