SALISBURY — After a false start and multiple delays, the Rowan County Board of Commissioners voted on Monday to amend the county ordinances surrounding potential racing complexes in the county.

The amendment to the ordinance would clear up a misunderstanding between applicant Mooresville Motorsports Complex and planning staff about the required acreage between different tracks and usages within a complex. The ordinance stated that multiple of the same usage types would still require additional acreage.

The Mooresville Motorsports Complex planned to add a dirt drag strip in addition to the current paved drag strip, which attorney Cindy Reid said was viewed by the company as the same usage because they could not be run concurrently. During the noise study, which is a required part of the motorsports complex conditional district rezoning  process, the two tracks were discovered by county staff and the discrepancy was discussed.

The amendment hit a snag in an earlier meeting, as Mooresville Motorsports Complex received a citation from the planning department for running an event on the dirt drag strip, despite the planning staff sending a courtesy notice to the company and saying the event was not allowed.

“Any expansion, whether it’s dirt, paved, gravel, asphalt, is considered an expansion, and if it hasn’t been approved by (the board of commissioners) it’s considered a violation. On two different occasions, we had issued a violation, they paid the fine and, as of last week or the week before, they had remedied the situation by seeding and strawing the dirt drag strip,” said Planning Director Ed Muire.

During the Oct. 7 meeting, the commissioners tabled any decisions on the amendment in order for discussions with planning staff.

“I’d like to make a motion that we table this and work with staff on some kind of boundaries on where we’re going to go, so that we both know where we’re heading on this and so there’s no more misunderstandings,” said Chairman Greg Edds during the Oct. 7 meeting.

Mooresville Motorsports Complex officials have apologized for the violations during both meetings, with Owner Timothy Broome appearing on Monday and saying that the company has taken the necessary steps to rectify the situation and that it would not happen again.

“I appreciate the consideration on what we’re trying to do out there. I hope the feedback that y’all have gotten is that we’re making a solid effort to really clean the place up and get rid of things that were questionable and make it fun for families. That’s all we were ever trying to do,” said Broome.

After the discussion, the commissioners voted unanimously to approve the text amendment. The original ordinance was approved by the commissioners in March, and laid out rules and regulations for racetrack facilities with multiple tracks or usages, including noise requirements, traffic, location and hours of operation.

Throughout the process, the commissioners and members of the Rowan County Planning Board have made sure to be conscious that despite the Mooresville Motorsports Complex leading the charge, the ordinances would apply to any future racing complexes throughout the county. Existing racing facilities throughout the county primarily predate county-wide zoning and would remain as nonconforming uses unless they attempt to expand their facilities.

After a planning board hearing about the original ordinance, Planning Board Chairperson Karla Foster Leonard said that this was not a process intended to help just one applicant, but rather a way for the county to take unanticipated usages and update the language in the county ordinances as new ideas come along.

At a February commissioner meeting, residents who lived near the Millbridge Speedway raised concerns with the ordinance as it was originally written, especially the hours of operation and noise regulations. After hearing those concerns, planning staff changed the ordinance to have different regulations around hours of operation depending on whether a property was bordered by majority industrial or commercial properties or not.

Muire said that now that the ordinances have been approved and finalized, he anticipates Mooresville Motorsports Complex to officially apply for the rezoning early next year.