SUSSEX CO -- Owners of the Middleford Speedway will now be able to race larger vehicles at their track, despite claims from some nearby neighbors that they already do.
Sussex County councilmembers unanimously approved a conditional-use permit for the Middleford Speedway Tuesday that will allow them to race larger, 4-cylinder vehicles.
A letter from Sussex County's planning and zoning office, dating back to 2010, showed complaints of the racetrack previously racing larger vehicles.
"Since 1970, or around there, there have been a number of vehicles that have raced at the Middleford Speedway," the attorney representing the Middleford Speedway, David Huck, said at Tuesday's council meeting. "Those include motorcycles, go-karts, micro-midgets, slingshots, 600 sprint cars, mod-lites, and super trucks."
Huck also said at Tuesday's meeting that changes in the speedway's ownership since the 1970's may also have resulted in the raceway's mixed uses.
"Looking at the title to the property, it's changed about five times over the course of that time period," Huck said. "Which likely is one of the reasons that explains the different types of racing."
According to Huck, current owner Greg Mitchell has owned the speedway since 2017. Upon receiving a letter from the county in 2020, Mitchell initially applied for the conditional-use permit in February of 2021.
Four years later, the permit was approved, including provisions around time constraints and muffler usage.
There were mixed reactions to Tuesday's permit approval. One neighbor, Mark Allen, said the previous use of large vehicles at the speedway has negatively affected the surrounding communities quality of life.
"6000 feet away in my home with the windows closed I've had to turn up the volume on my TV to hear the news," Allen said. "We've got people across the street that have young kids who can't put them to bed until the racing is over."
Chris Martinez, raceway director with the Middleford Speedway and a racer since 2009, said the approval is a good thing.
"I know there were some stipulations that apparently we weren't supposed to run anything larger than motorcycle engines," Martinez said. "If you want me to be quite frank about this, my youngest son races a super-truck out there. The 600 micro-sprints, which run on motorcycle engines, are far louder."
At Tuesday's council meeting, council members said that, if the permit were to be denied, the speedway would have been allowed to race smaller vehicles due to their pre-existing, non-conforming use.