Liberty Bell Motorsports Park

[TwentySix]

   

 http://www.libertybellmp.com/track.html

Appeals court gives OK to plan for 668-acre racetrack complex in Union Township Commonwealth Court overturns plan's rejection by Berks County Judge
By Holly Herman
Reading Eagle

Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court ruled Friday that a racetrack complex proposed for 668 acres in Union Township can be built.  Developer Louis J. Mascaro's company, Ethan Michael Inc., wants to build a four-track racing park and campground along Route 724.  On Dec. 11, Berks County Judge Scott E. Lash reversed a township zoning hearing board decision that granted approval for the project in an agricultural zone.  The state court, however, agreed with the developer that Lash improperly raised concerns about the size and intensity of a racing park in an agricultural district. Mascaro's attorney, William F. Fox Jr., Audubon, Montgomery County, said he is pleased with the decision.

"The court did an excellent job," Fox said. "I felt strongly about this case. We spent a long time on it." Fox said the business will be an economic benefit to the area. "We will have people using the track and going out to dinner and other establishments in the surrounding neighborhoods," Fox said. Fox said the park will not change the character of the neighborhoods. The project will begin as soon as possible, he said.

Frederick K. Hatt, township solicitor, said the supervisors will review the decision next week to determine if an appeal will be filed to the state Supreme Court. Edwin L. Stock, a Reading lawyer who represented the zoning board, was unavailable for comment. The project calls for building the campground and recreational racetrack complex, to be called Liberty Bell Motorsports Park on both sides of Route 724.  The zoning board ruled in favor of the plan Aug. 22, 2007. Days later, the township supervisors voted to appeal that decision to Berks court.  Commonwealth Court disagreed with Lash's ruling that the racetrack could not be built because the Schuylkill River Greenway Association was not a party to the case. The association oversees trails in the area of the proposed development. The court said the group does not have to participate in the lawsuit.


http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=149627