By Richard Caines

SALISBURY — Wicomico County Council is proposing legislation that would give it the power to determine the fate of events on county-owned property much like the recent Safari at the Quarry near Delmar.

A proposed resolution slated to be discussed during a May 21 work session would require county council approval for any lease, license, permit or contract for any motor vehicle event on any county property.

Motor vehicles covered under the resolution include automobiles, trucks, motorcycles, four-wheel drive or off-road vehicles, all-terrain vehicles, side-by-sides or any events or activities that involve the use of vehicles powered by combustion engines.

The proposed resolution said motorsports events can have “significant” impacts on public safety, environmental quality and community well-being which requires “scrutiny” and approval by the council.

“It just basically gives the council an opportunity to review any kind of event like this no matter what the timeline because we had that opportunity if it took place over 365 days before,” Councilman Joe Holloway said during a May 7 council meeting where the topic was first discussed.

News of the proposed resolution comes after the May Safari at the Quarry event held at the county-owned Connelly Mill site. Event organizers said the event was successful, but concerned citizens continue to lobby against using the site for off-road activities.

“During the time of the event, we had people come from five different states,” Event organizer Brad Hoffman said at a recent county council meeting. “They came in to support Wicomico County, the restaurants, the hotels and they enjoyed it. And many of these folks were first timers to Wicomico County.”

For months, numerous residents of the Shadow Hills subdivision and others have spoken out against the May event and any future versions, instead requesting Wicomico County to preserve the 234-acre site for public use in the form of a park as they say it was originally intended.

Additionally, concerned citizens have attended recent Salisbury City Council meetings, saying that since the three parcels that compose the property are within the city limits and are zoned residential, the Jeep event violated city regulations.

Shadow Hills resident Mike Goldberg and others urged the city council and mayor during a May 13 meeting to seek a permanent injunction for the property, while also asking city zoning staff to fine the event organizers for the alleged zoning violations.

“It’s definitely doable and I do believe the city would prevail based on what I know,” Goldberg said.

“Let’s preserve this space for the community, ensure responsible stewardship of our natural resources and restore integrity to our governing process,” Shadow Hills resident Mikele Dahlen said during the May 13 meeting.

Another point of contention is the Memorandum of Understanding between the County Executive and Hoffman of Live Wire Media.
An online petition on change.org requesting the termination of the lease between the promoter and the County Executive has garnered more than 800 signatures as of May 17.

But Director of Administration Bunky Luffman said during a recent Executive Exclusive Episode on Pac14 that terminating the agreement could open the county to potential litigation.

“We also recognize that we’re doing business with a vendor that we have a year-long contract with, and we just can’t break the contract,” Luffman said. “Not only is it not good and would bring liability, but if you want to do business in our county or with our county, what does that say to a potential business opportunity we might even know about yet?”

Luffman said no one from the Executive’s Office has said that the Connelly Mill area should not be a park, but the site still has a decade of dirt. He said they would have to look in 10 years and do a feasibility study.

“If we were to turn that into a park today, taxpayers would have to start buying dirt for the landfill when we already own the dirt at Connelly Mill.”

County Executive Julie Giordano said “reactive” legislation like the proposed resolution is “bad” legislation. She said the land has good potential for events like the Safari at the Quarry, but also potentially for a park in the future, which she said seems to be the new “driving force” of the community.

“At the end of the day, we can’t ban motorsports in Wicomico County or try to put legislation where everything has to come to the County Council,” Giordano said.

Reach Managing Editor Richard Caines at rcaines@iniusa.org.