Santa Maria Raceway owner Nick Duggan announced via Facebook on Monday that the raceway and Stadium805 are indefinitely suspending operations after facing legal action from neighbors.
The racetrack, located north of Santa Maria in southern San Luis Obispo County, first opened in 1964, holding various racing events on most weekends.
“The ongoing efforts of the County of San Luis Obispo and the Costa Pacifica Estates Homeowners Association to shut down our facility, and the legal fees defending the actions, has made it financially impossible to continue operating this facility in the way it has operated for decades,” Duggan said in the Facebook post announcing the closure.
As of Tuesday evening, the Facebook post had more than 1,000 shares and more than 650 comments, most of which expressed support for the raceway.
“[The support] is what keeps us going,” said David Castaneda, Santa Maria Raceway general manager, who has been at the speedway for 18 years. “It has helped us get past the past couple days.”
Castaneda said that people within the community have been telling stories of growing up with many family memories at the raceway.
He added that many families have had multiple generations race at the track.
“I’m heartbroken,” Castaneda said. “The reasons for it closing are so frustrating.”
According to Duggan’s post, San Luis Obispo County officials, including Fourth District Supervisor Lynn Compton, were invited to the raceway before renovations were made in 2018 to confirm the approved uses and ensure the improvements stayed within those approved uses.
Castaneda said that $750,000 were put into those renovations to improve the bathrooms, grandstands, lighting and more to offer a variety of events.
Duggan’s post continues to say that once new residents from the nearby Costa Pacifica Estates began to make noise complaints, the county Board of Supervisors required the raceway to file for an entertainment license, which was granted on a unanimous vote.
Duggan said that the Costa Pacifica Estates Homeowners Association then filed a lawsuit under the California Environmental Quality Act, claiming the Santa Maria Raceway was improperly granted an exemption from an environmental impact report.
“CEQA has several provisions that exempt us from having to conduct an expensive EIR,” Duggan said in the Facebook post. “One requires us to be an existing facility and not a new project which the County properly applied. Another requires the activities permitted to have been conducted for three or more years.”
Residents within the Costa Pacifica Estates have said it was the nonracing events they were concerned about, such as concerts.
However, races have been held on the track since opening in 1964, and Castaneda said that concerts and other nonracing events have been held at the facility for more than 30 years.
“A small group of homeowners complained about a facility they knew existed before they bought their homes,” Duggan said. “We did not build a racetrack in their backyards. They built their backyards next to our racetrack.”
The county also has been fining the raceway, with fines between June and August reaching $37,000, according to Duggan and Castaneda, and legal fees have added up to more than $150,000.
“Unfortunately, as a local family operation, we no longer have to means to continue the fight to keep this iconic facility open,” Duggan said on Monday. “As of today, we are officially closing down the operations of Stadium805 and Santa Maria Raceway to stop the financial bleeding.”
Some of the nonracing events that have taken place at the Santa Maria Raceway over the years include All Star Monster Truck shows and luminaria ceremonies for the American Cancer Society.
Castaneda said the raceway was willing to make limitations to nonracing events, such as hosting only six nonracing events per year, holding events only on the weekends and finishing by 10 p.m., capping audience capacity to 3,500, and investing in sound-monitoring equipment.
He said that a variety of events is needed in order to generate enough money to survive.
“I really think the county needs to step up. … We’re being fined for doing what we were told we could do,” Castaneda said. “If they let this die, the people are going to remember this — who was there and who wasn’t.”
Multiple commenters on Duggan’s Facebook post have suggested putting together a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for legal fees, and a Change.org petition, “Save Santa Maria Raceway,” was started Tuesday afternoon. As of Tuesday evening, the petition had been signed by more than 3,600 people.
“I’m frustrated, I’m so sad, I’m upset,” Castaneda said, holding back tears. “I put my life into this place the last 18 years. … When this track closes, it’s gone forever.”
Noozhawk has reached out to Compton, chairman of the Board of Supervisors, and other officials but had received no response as of Tuesday night.
— Serena Guentz is a local freelance writer. Contact her at news@noozhawk.com.