Land Commission Orders Dispute Resolution Over Proposed Raceway Lodging

PORTLAND-The developer of a 1,400-acre motor speedway development off Interstate 84 in Eastern Oregon may yet get to develop a 250-room hotel adjacent the track, despite it being outside the nearby City of Boardman, it just wouldn’t ever be open to the public.

That’s the likely scenario following a hearing late last week in front of the commission controlling the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development. The hearing was prompted by department staff, which sought approval to appeal a Morrow County zone change that allowed the hotel, saying that in order to prevent sprawl the hotel should be within the city limits of Boardman.

The commission approved the appeal, which would be brought before the state Land Use Board of Appeals, but ordered the parties to engage in dispute resolution. DLCD spokesman John Mills tells GlobeSt.com that the developer, Racing Unlimited, is willing to operate the hotel as a private lodging facility for sponsors, the media and race officials only, pushing spectators to hotels in Boardman.