The town of Harpersfield Planning Board has been sued by the owners of the New York Safety Track.
Attorney Allyson Phillips of Young/Sommer, an Albany law firm that works for the town, said during the March 27 meeting, that Mountain Top Airfield LLC, owners of the track, filed a lawsuit against the town March 6 in Delaware County Supreme Court. The company wants the planning board to close the public hearing about the proposed changes to the track and issue a ruling in favor of them.
According to planning board minutes, Mountain Top Airfield presented its preliminary plans to build a mini go-cart track during the July 27, 2022 meeting. Since that meeting, the plans have changed and during that time, the company received a stop work order after it cleared three acres of trees where the mini track would go.
Mountain Top Airfield has applied to construct a second mini-track, new staging area and change the scope of its approved land use activities to expand the type of vehicles to be used on the existing track and extend the time and days of racing and training.
Under the proposed new scope of use, there would be up to 20 riders using the existing track and 20 riders using the new track at any given time for a total 40 riders at once for racing events. When instruction is taking place, there would also be up to five instructors on each track at once for total 50 riders and instructors.
The planning board opened the public hearing on the track during its Sept. 27, 2023 meeting, and received several comments about the noise and operation of the track. The public hearing was also held Oct. 25 where several residents opposed the expansion and the planning board decided to keep the public hearing open while it discussed the potential environmental impacts of the proposed expansion.
The planning board held special meetings in November and January to discuss the plans and also discussed the plans during its monthly meetings. It requested more information about the project throughout the discussion process. The county planning department, which also hasn’t approved the proposal, has also asked for more information from Mountain Top Airfield.
According to the Feb. 28 planning board minutes, discussion about the safety track was on hold for another month. “The escrow account to allow council to proceed needs to be replenished and everything is adjourned until that is taken care of and the planning board receives advice of council,” the minutes said.
The escrow account of $5,000 was established during the Aug. 31, 2022 meeting, so the town could hire counsel and an expert as it went through the application process. According to the minutes, when the account falls to $1,000, the applicant must bring it back up to $5,000.
Phillips said Wednesday, the town received checks made out to the wrong parties and the escrow account has not been replenished.
Phillips said the town will present its arguments in court in mid May.
The planning board decided after a closed-door session to reopen the public hearing about the track at the next planning board meeting April 24. Planning Board Chair Dean Darling said the public can bring comments about the proposed project to the meeting.