Sharon Speedway files suit to host other events

Sharon Speedway files suit to host other events

WARREN — Sharon Speedway has sued the Hartford Township trustees to secure a judgment allowing race track owners the chance to have flea markets and outdoor concerts at the facility.

The suit said the owners have spent spent nearly $2 million since 2001 to convert the track from a half-mile paved track to a 3/8-mile unpaved track. They have added grandstand space, lighting, fencing, billboard wall, scoreboard, and made other improvements.

The suit said speedway representatives were informed that some or all of the prior uses of the speedway are no longer permitted under the township’s zoning rules, and that enforcement actions will be pursued against the owners if the prior uses are conducted.

“... Hartford Township has taken the position that Sharon Speedway is required to apply to the zoning inspector and the [township] board of zoning appeals for approval each time Sharon Speedway seeks to use its property for any purpose other than as a race track,” the suit said.

Having to do this is “commercially unfeasible, for Sharon Speedway needs to plan its events schedule months in advance, and needs to be able to predict with certainty what events are allowed and what are not,” it added.

Trustee John C. Messersmith, when reached Thursday night, said he didn’t know anything about the lawsuit. The two other township trustees and the township’s legal adviser, Atty. Mark Finamore, could not be reached to comment.

Sharon Speedway Properties LLC of Custer Orangeville Road, Harford, filed the suit today in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court. The case is assigned to Judge John M. Stuard.