A locked gate is the only thing greeting visitors to the Motoplex Speedway on Highway 97 as a court case drags on.
(CHARLOTTE HELSTON / iNFOnews.ca)
March 08, 2017 - 1:00 PM
VERNON - The outcome of a lawsuit over noise levels at the Motoplex Speedway in the North Okanagan remains up in the air.
Following a court decision last summer when a Kelowna judge ordered the owners of the track to pay more than $100,000 in damages and keep the noise down, the housing developers who initiated the lawsuit appealed.
Lawrence Heights, a retirement housing development, was initially seeking more than $6 million in damages.
The case was heard Monday, March 6 in the Vancouver Court of Appeal. The panel of three judges reserved their decision, according to the court registry. It is unknown when the decision will be handed down.
The speedway hasn’t held an event since June 2015, and has not scheduled any upcoming events. In July 2016, the track's general manager said the owners are waiting to get through the appeal before making any decisions on the track.
The speedway had been in operation since 2000, and at one time held as many as 18 races a year. That number fell in recent years, with just three events in 2015.
The track has a large following of supporters, with the group Save the Motoplex Speedway boasting more than 3,000 members. One Okanagan man has even expressed interest in buying it and has been looking for investors.
The operators of the speedway, however, say the facility is not for sale.
“We would just like (the court case) to be finalized so we can decide which direction we’re going to go in. Until then we’re kind of at a standstill,” general manager Bob Newcombe said last July.
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News from © iNFOnews, 2017