SLO County racetrack shuts down amid neighborhood complaints. ‘A no-win situation’
The Santa Maria Raceway is closed indefinitely, the owner announced this week, following a dispute with a neighboring homeowners association and confusion over San Luis Obispo County permits and licenses.
Nick Duggan — owner of the Nipomo racetrack and its event venue offshoot, Stadium 805 — announced the closure in a lengthy Facebook message Aug. 8.
“Unfortunately as a local family operation we no longer have the means to continue the fight to keep this iconic facility open,” wrote Duggan, who purchased the racetrack in 2018. “The effect this had on our personal health and mental well-being due to the constant legal battles and uncertainty of the future has led us to this distressing decision.”
In a statement Wednesday, San Luis Obispo County officials disputed some of Duggan’s comments, noting a different timeline of events than what he presented in the Facebook post.
“The county is not shutting down racing events at Stadium 805,” the statement read. “Code enforcement actions have been exclusively focused on un-permitted music concerts and rodeo activities.”
Racetrack owner planned to upgrade racetrack into live entertainment venue
Duggan said management worked closely with county officials after he bought the Hutton Road site to confirm that non-racing events would be allowed at the racetrack, and were told repeatedly that such events were an allowed use under the track’s existing county permit.
“This was an extremely important feature of the property and was a major factor in the decision to purchase the property, and the subsequent investment in the facility,” he wrote in the Facebook post.
Duggan said non-racing events had “been vital in keeping the facility financially viable” for previous owners and he expected to be able to continue and even expand upon that.
Duggan then invested “significant capitol” into improvements to the racetrack and creating the Stadium 805 event venue business to host live events, he said. He entered into a multi-year agreement with an outside promoter to provide that live entertainment, he added.
After the business began booking events, it began to receive noise complaints from residents of the Costa Pacific Estates housing development located near the racetrack, Duggan said.
In the Facebook post, Duggan said he received a letter in February 2020 from San Luis Obispo County notifying him the county had made a mistake in allowing non-racing events, and the business would be required to file for an entertainment license if it wished to continue.
A year later, in a unanimous vote, the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors granted the license, but the Costa Pacifica Homeowners Association soon filed a lawsuit contending the county had improperly granted the license without an environmental impact report, he wrote.
At the same time, the coronavirus pandemic had shut down the racetrack and cut off revenue that was needed to pay the legal fees to fight the lawsuit, Duggan said.
The venue’s entertainment license was temporarily rescinded while state and county officials waited to lift pandemic restrictions on events and gatherings, he added.
The county has a different timeline for what occurred.
According to the county, the Stadium 805 owner applied for and received a temporary commercial outdoor entertainment license in November 2020 to host live events such as concerts.
But a few months later, the county said, it received a letter from the Santa Maria Raceway’s planning consultant asking the county Board of Supervisors to rescind the license. It is unclear why that request was filed.
According to the county’s statement, the board rescinded the license at its meeting Jan. 26, but the Raceway continued to hold live, non-racing events after that date.
“When the (Raceway) went ahead with music concerts and rodeo activities anyway, the county received numerous complaints from neighbors,” read the statement. “Code enforcement communicated with the owner that he no longer had permits for such events, and fined him for having un-permitted concerts and activities.”
In June, when San Luis Obispo County once again allowed live events, Duggan said he requested the entertainment license to be reinstated. The county said the business would have to apply for a new one, Duggan wrote.
“We now find ourselves in a no-win situation,” Duggan said, noting that his business is at risk of violating its contract with its promoters if it doesn’t host events, but that it would also be fined by the county if it held those same events.
To date, the business has spent approximately $150,000 on lawyer and consultant fees and studies and expects to pay more than $37,000 in fines to the county for June and August, Duggan wrote.
“This has drained us of all remaining operating funds.” Duggan wrote in the Facebook post.
It has also put the future of the racetrack in jeopardy.
“A small group of homeowners complained about a facility they knew existed before they bought their homes,” Duggan wrote. “We did not build a racetrack in their backyards. They built their backyards next to our racetrack.”
This story was originally published August 11, 2021 at 6:19 PM.
%20Cropped.jpg)