COME TO THE PLANNING COMMISSION HEARING

When: January 28, 2008
Where: Banning City Hall
Time: 6:30pm


Hearing on our Unclassified Use Permit by the Planning Commission for Monday, January 28, 2008 at 6:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers of Banning City Hall (99 E. Ramsey Street, Banning Ca 92220) THE PUBLIC HAS A CHANCE TO SPEAK IT'S MIND. IF NOT, AT LEAST BE SEEN. THANK YOU!

NEWSPAPER COLUMN STORY: "THE ROAR YOU HEAR"


PRESS ENTERPRISE
by Bob Pratte
There could be a roar in Banning and it won't be from cars racing at the long-awaited Drag City. Banners that used to hang downtown said the drag strip would open last spring, but it hasn't been built. The noise will be from drag-racing fans at a city Planning Commission hearing Monday on revoking Drag City's use permit needed to build the track near the Banning Airport. The 6:30 p.m. hearing will be in Banning City Hall. In October, city officials dissolved their master agreement for the development of the track. They were enthusiastic about the race facility until Banning Airport Associates backed out of its part in developing the land into a track operated by Drag City. An industrial park geared to attract firms related to car racing also was planned. Andy Marocco, Drag City president, wants to continue without the investment group. He is recruiting drag-race fans to support his track at the hearing. Marocco said his lawyers will be involved and he'll consider building elsewhere if Drag City is not allowed in Banning. It's all too bad. I love the concept of allowing people to bring any types of cars to Drag City and race each other. Maybe instead of arguing and possible court fights, Marocco and Banning Mayor Brenda Salas could pick out patrol cars from the Banning Police Department and settle the issue in a drag race on Ramsey Street through the city's downtown.

Andy Marocco
President, Drag City
(951) 755-7376
http://www.DragCity.net

 

keeping this issue at the top!!!

 

DRAG STRIP DEVELOPER SUES CITY
Thursday, May 16, 2008
By ERIN WALDNER
The Press-Enterprise

BANNING - Two months after his permit was revoked, the developer of a planned drag racing strip is suing the city of Banning.

Andy Marocco claims in his lawsuit that the city did not have the legal right, nor the authority, to rescind his permit for the project, which was to be near the Banning Municipal Airport.

Marocco, president of Banning Airport Associates, is asking Riverside County Superior Court to order the city to reinstate his permit or pay him an unspecified amount for costs and damages.

"We obviously believe that Banning promised us from the beginning that they would work with us to make this track a reality. Unfortunately, they didn't keep their word," Marocco said in an interview Thursday.

He has contracts with the city and has invested in the project by building a road to it, as required by the city, he said.

The Banning City Council issued him a use permit for the professional drag racing strip, to be called Drag City, in June 2001.

The Banning Planning Commission voted this January to revoke the permit, a decision the City Council upheld in March. Marocco filed the lawsuit in April.

At the March City Council hearing, City Attorney Eric Vail said Marocco's permit had expired two years earlier. He said a developer is allowed three extensions and that Marocco had been granted four.

He said Marocco had not done any meaningful construction work on site, making the permit null and void.

"The reality is, there's nothing to extend because we were already vested" in the project, Marocco said Thursday.

Marocco said he has built Barbour Street, which leads to the drag strip site.

"We're just asking for a fair deal," Marocco said.

He wants city officials to "reinstate the project so we can build the track without any sneaky clauses that would allow them to take the project out of our hands again."

Banning City Manager Brian Nakamura said the city's attorney will review the case file and the city will then determine what to do

 

wow.... hopefully all went well.

 

hopeing it went well also i would drive my *** all the way down their from washington to race that track

 

i hope everything went well but for now i doubt it. we need more tracks in so cal.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by AllMotorRandy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">wow.... hopefully all went well. </TD></TR></TABLE>

maybe in 2010...