Salisbury P&Z wins Lime Rock Park lawsuit
SALISBURY — The Planning & Zoning Commission has won a lawsuit brought by Lime Rock Park, concerning its amdended regulations prohibiting Sunday races at the park.
In its ruling in Lime Rock Park LLC v. Planning and Zoning Commission of the Town of Salisbury, filed May 22, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled the commission’s amendments were legal.
The amendments were made to town ordinances dating from 2015. Officials at Music Mountain in nearby Lakeville said they were pleased with the decision.
“This is an enormous relief for Music Mountain and for the future of our beloved institution,” said Music Mountain Artistic and Executive Director Oskar Espina-Ruiz, in a statement. “The threat of noise from Lime Rock Park drifting up to Music Mountain, less than five miles away, has hung over us for too long. It would have made our Sunday concerts virtually impossible.”
According to the court’s ruling, Sunday’s racing activities were determined to be “extremely disruptive.”
“[R]acing activities on Sunday afternoons in an indoor arena in a nonresidential, urban area may be entirely appropriate, whereas the same activities on an outdoor track in a heavily populated suburban location could be extremely disruptive. We conclude, therefore, that [Connecticut statutes do] not preempt the provision of the 2015 amendments prohibiting racing activities on Sundays,” wrote Justice Christine S. Vertefeuille in a 40-page opinion, joined by the other six Supreme Court justices.
The case was argued on behalf of the Planning and Zoning Commission by attorney Charles R. Andres, joined by the Lime Rock Citizens Council, represented by attorney Timothy S. Hollister of Shipman & Goodwin.
Skip Barber, president of Lime Rock Park, said he was disappointed by the ruling.
“I’m surprised,” he said “The Citizen Council, all along, have said that what they wanted was to maintain the status quo, and that’s what they got. What we got was a fairly significant correction of the original judge’s opinion.”
Initially, Barber said, Saturday races were eliminated by accident during a determination of the suit. “They fixed that, which was not unexpected,” Barber said.
“We thank the LRCC for its years of dedication and the attorneys who successfully argued this final appeal,” said David Conte, chairman of the Music Mountain board of directors. “And we especially thank our many supporters and concertgoers who gave generously to allow Music Mountain to support LRCC when we asked — on top of their generosity to Music Mountain. The future of Sunday chamber concerts is secure.”
“Music Mountain has long had an excellent relationship with Skip Barber and Lime Rock Park, and we look forward to putting this litigation behind us and moving forward together as important summer tourism destinations in the Northwest Corner,” Conte said.
“Now we can continue planning for a bright future, as we focus on getting through this difficult time and launching an exciting new season in summer 2021,” Espina-Ruiz said. Music Mountain canceled its 2020 festival earlier this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, but a series of weekly virtual programs will begin June 7.
Barber pointed to a previous agreement with Music Mountain in response to the facility’s comments.
“We have never intended to hurt Music Mountain in any way,” he said. “I made an agreement with Nick
Gordon, the founder and longtime supporter, and before he died, we would ask Music Mountain once a year to start a Sunday concert three hours later. Nick asked if we would make up any lost ticket sales, and if we would promote their Saturday evening concert. I said yes to both points.
“We never intended to race more than three Sunday afternoons,” Barber said. “Nobody believes that, and the deal with Nick has been lost in Music Mountain’s memory. This was all pretty unnecessary.”