For many years, some folks in Lompoc have yearned for a place where they can race cars. Finally, almost three years ago in June 2012, a small group of enthusiasts banded together under the umbrella of the Lompoc Valley Park & Recreation Pool Foundation (LVPRPF), and approached the city council with a proposal to build and operate a motorsports park on airport property.
At the time, they had then-Mayor John Linn in their pocket, but he was ousted by voters in the last election and is now once again the head of the LVPRPF, which he founded.
Every successful project begins with a good plan, and when any developer approaches the city with a project idea, he/she is given a list of things that must be completed before the project can be approved. Let’s call it a checklist for success.
When the motorsports park people came to City Hall, they were treated like all other applicants. However, since they had the former mayor leading the charge, they may have figured they had a fast track.
Let’s try to figure out why they are having problems. Their first problem was that they had an idea, but they didn’t have a plan. It gets worse.
In December 2013, after six months of negotiations, the motorsports park Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and an application for grant funds for an off-road vehicle park to the state Department of Parks and Recreation was the subject of discussion during a council meeting.
Linn was in fine form. Seeing a large audience of supporters he had solicited in the room, he moved the item ahead of another on the published agenda.
When the MOU was discussed, the LVPRPF quickly resolved all of their concerns; but Linn had his own lengthy list of amendments that were clearly aimed at helping the LVPRPF and not at protecting the city. The MOU was finally signed in March 2014.
So, fast forward to last week’s council meeting. Some in the community, including council members, have wondered why so little progress has been made on this project that began almost three years ago.
With the former mayor making many bold predictions regarding the potential business that this project might bring to the city, similar to other grossly exaggerated claims he has made in the past, the council listened to the city staff explain the reasons why the project is behind schedule.
The MOU required the LVPRPF to submit a development plan to get the ball rolling. The first plan they submitted was woefully incomplete and the city returned it with more than 170 specific items to be addressed.
Now, after other incomplete submittals and a week before the council meeting, the LVPRPF submitted yet another version which, according to the committee chairman, described a much larger project than any previous submittal. Their focus also seems to have shifted from the original off-road park to adding a drag strip and go-cart track, which are not part of the grant.
The LVPRPF has suggested that the city’s EIR consultant might not understand a unique project like the motorsports park so they are lobbying the council to be allowed to cherry-pick their own consultant.
The city’s EIR consultant has reviewed and prepared EIRs for many projects that were unique to Lompoc in the past few years. In fact, from conception to a completion, the Campbell Cooler project — the first in Lompoc — was not only analyzed but open for business in less time than it is taking the LVPRPF to submit an adequate development plan!
A solid review is critical to a project like this. The city is obligated to conduct an independent environmental review. The EIR review process includes many outside agencies — the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Federal Aviation Administration and the state Department of Parks and Recreation — that are all required to critique the EIR.
The public review process will take time, and it could be many months from the time the initial draft EIR is circulated until it is finally certified by the city. Then the motorsports park committee would have to build the project.
Considering the long delay in submitting a complete development plan, the staff has a real concern about financial obligations the city could incur if the project is not completed on time. If the EIR is completed and the project is determined not to be feasible, the city will have no obligation to repay the state grant; however, if the EIR is certified and project construction is started and not completed, the city is on the hook to repay the entire grant.
Time is running out on the state grant timeline; the $1 million state grant stipulates that the project must be completed by December 2016 and all billing completed by June 2017.
Considering the lengthy public review process of the EIR that must be completed, and with the motorsports committee consistently making late and incomplete submittals, it may be difficult to meet the deadlines of the state grant.
Having a good plan in place before the LVPRPF asked for a grant would have made this an achievable dream, and just not another poorly executed proposal engineered by former Mayor John Linn.
— Ron Fink, a Lompoc resident since 1975, is retired from the aerospace industry and has been active with Lompoc municipal government commissions and committee since 1992, including 12 years on the Lompoc Planning Commission. He is also a voting member of the Santa Barbara County Taxpayers Association. Contact him at news@noozhawk.com. The opinions expressed are his own.
