By Valley Speedway PR (Grain Valley, MO) — The Grain Valley City Council unanimously voted to have a meeting July 10th to revoke the Conditional Use Permit (CUP) that governs the last remaining race tracks in Jackson County.
Thunder Valley Sand Drags in business 25 years, Valley MX in business 15 years, and Valley Speedway in business 10 years have been targeted by the city of Grain Valley to be shut down by revoking their conditional use permit that allows them to operate.
The race tracks have been in controversy for 10 years over sound issues. A recent sound study shows the track is in compliance.
The heat to close the tracks heated up when land owners were approached by the city asking about what they would sell the track for because they had been approached by someone about buying the track. The city was told the complex of 3 race facilities was worth over 1 million dollars. We were told that the price was too high for land in a flood plain area and was only worth $300,000. We told them it was operating as a race track and not vacant ground. We asked who was looking at the property and what they wanted it for. We were told that they couldn’t tell who the buyer was and they didn’t know what they wanted it for.
After some investigation we found who the buyer was and were told they did not contact the city about buying the property that the city contacted him. He is in the business of putting land in wet land programs for property exchanges. The city has been having meetings about their future comprehensive plan and the race track area is shown as green space and park ground on the plan.
This is nothing more than a land grab that if the city can revoke the CUP they can devalue the price of the property by almost 1 million dollars using their value for flood property. This is like the same thing Kansas City did to close KCIR. That motor sport facility had been in operation as a drag strip for 40 years.
I would encourage anyone that supports racing in Jackson County or if you are tired of cities taking property from private individuals for their use come to this meeting. There is much more to this story that will come out.
