Axelrod

It goes to show that money can buy you anything. The owner of this land all but bankrupted the rinky dink township in a 7-year long legal battle. Residents were in an uproar and formed a coalition to ban the construction of the track... well, after a long hard fought legal battle and higher taxes as a result-- they're getting a world class racetrack that will draw thousands upon thousands of people annually. Let's hope some of these "activists" are smart enough to open hotels, restaurants and convenience stores near to the track.

http://libertybellmp.com/index.html

AU N EGL

More tracks on the east coast

burners

That is pretty cool.

yellow01

Cool! That track map looks crazy! Lots of different track possibilities there!

gonzalezfj

This only goes to show how much money can be made out of other people's trash by an entrepreneur like Mr. Mascaro. It also shows that in this country, if you have enough money, anything is possible.

Besides the above, this track is right in our backyard, and that deserves a WHOOPPEEE!!!

Finally, the "activists" will not open any businesses near the track. With their lack of foresight, they will be lucky to get jobs in some of the newly created businesses. But then, again, that should be progress for them. EVERYBODY WINS.

Frank Gonzalez

RogueVette

that's awesome news

BrianCunningham

Gee, I might have to stay in PA a little longer

JRD77VET

WOO-HOO

That track will be about 30 minutes from my house. That also puts it close to both Phoenix locations too

Jeff

CHJ In Virginia

Great another close location !! Hope the guy has the $ to really make it happen, I will definitely be a customer.

Geoff17

Wow this looks exciting. Where in PA will it be located? What is the time frame? Will it offer memberships?

Thanks, Geoff

gonzalezfj

Exactly 11 miles from Phoenixville, PA, but who's counting?



Frank Gonzalez

TedDBere

Why don't these places ever include an autox pad?

Frank, do something about that!

Axelrod

Well guys and girls... I made the trek to the Union Township Board of Supervisors meeting tonight which was specifically held per the "Sunshine" law to field resident's points of view (ie: complainers and whiners)

The meeting started @ 9pm

The meeting lasted till past 11pm

I'm sorry to report that the overwhelming portion of the local residents that spoke against the track are emotionally ignorant, uninformed and totally clueless. It was comical to hear them speak about "top fuel dragsters" (of which there will be none) and the defeat of safety switches on lawnmowers and the possibility of collapsing bridges from all of the additional traffic! It was all I could do to contain my laughter amongst such modest people.

Now for the staggering figures:

- There have been over 60 zoning hearings over 7 years to thwart this track proposal

- Union Township has spent over $700,000.00 in LEGAL FEES to fight the application for the track!

- Union Township has gone against the impartial recommendation of a court appointed mediator in continuing to fight the application (prior to the approval)

After the public debate tonight, the three reigning Supervisors made their decision that they are going to APPEAL their own g-damn decision from their own Zoning Commission to the Appeals Court! ! Local gov't gone waaaay wrong...

Mascaro's attorneys have other things planned, though. They will bankrupt the Township into oblivion. I spent 10 minutes speaking with the Civil Rights attorney who was serving the Township Supervisors with papers (at the hearing). Mascaro is suing the Township for 10 figures large for every breach of conduct and prejudice in the book. Remember the Three Mile Island incident?? Even the greenies involved with that debacle didn't endure 7 years of ridiculous hearings. The point is being made large and loud that there is no place for overzealous gov't.

So there you have it, the track has been approved, but will be stalled a little further till the Township runs out of money (again). The appeals process will take ~60 days for the first court date and is expected to be immediately quashed by Mascaro.

Gov't is all about spending other peoples money and most carelessly a lot of the time. At the hearing it was placed on the record that the Berks County Commissioners were forwarding $25k for the legal defense fund AGAINST the track. Now, what business does the County gov't have in taking County taxes and shifting them toward a little pissant Township? I dunno, but it sure does wreak of impropriety to me.

Axelrod

Oh, he does. He has a $20MM car collection and this legal defense fund to fight for the track is the equivalent of the Geo Metro in his scope of wealthiness.

PA Z06

I cant wait for this, right in our back yard

Cobra4B

People are stupid... sad... but they're getting dumber by the day.

EddyCurr

Mascaro? Lou Mascaro of the J. P. Mascaro & Sons family?
Does he still want to store a few thousand tons of sludge from Synegrow on the site that Liberty Bell is going to share with a campground, a 300 site housing development and a hog farm?

EddyCurr

Sorry, it is SYNAGRO MID ATLANTIC INC, not Synegrow. They look to be pretty well known amongst land holders in Berks County. The name shows up frequently as a client in the PA Environment Facility Tracking System.

I don't know if it is a related company, but there is (or used to be) a Synagro Technology. They were listed on exchanges as (SYGR) until they delisted this spring after merging with The Carlyle Group. No shortage of resources at The Carlyle Group, a private equity firm with over 75 billions under management. Too bad The Carlyle Group isn't publicly traded, they'd likely be good for some capital gains and dividends.

Anyway, Liberty Bell should be a swell facility when it opens in a few years. It says here that although there were troubles in the past, changes for the better have been noted more recently. With continued improvement and perseverence they are bound to overcome the obstacles facing the facility.

Axelrod

Eddy, let's be realistic, the Mascaro's are elite big money players in the top 10% of the nation's wealthiest people. Are they the most influential? Not even close. Being associated with "trash" doesn't automatically make them "trash" no matter how you view their race track application.

The planned road course is to be a world class facility similar to that of Miller Motorsports Park or VIR. Have you been to either? All of these facilities have several things in common, they are well managed, and have a lot of things to do not only for the racers, but also for the visiting friends and family. They are top notch in available garages, concessions, lodging (or even villas), let alone the impeccable grounds keeping to perfection. The proposed race track for Liberty Bell Motorsports will bring all of those qualities together for one of the best roadcourses in the USA. Lou Mascaro is serious about this-- and I've taken the time to speak with him, his representation, and review the plans for the site. The proposed plans are un-matched by any track within 400 miles.

Your post has me confused. In a way, you honestly sound like one of the residents that was speaking at the meeting last night who was uninformed and spewing unrelated hearsay that had nothing to do with the application for the track. I apologize if your intent was otherwise, but bringing up the operations and an independent consulting firm's summary of some unrelated development for Antietam Lake and "sludge" sure sounds like an attempt to divert attention in a negative way, does it not?

This would be the same thing that some of the "United" Union Township residents and Board of Supervisors has been perpetuating. Unfortunately, they may suffer serious penalties when the Civil suit moves forward. Why on earth is everyone so up in arms over this track? They need to take the time to go visit these other world class operations and see for themselves!

Axelrod

Here is an example of one of the "United" residents that continuously has defamed the Mascaros application.

This quote is from the "Hogiday" article from the above link provided by Eddy:




I've met Gatz. He's a nice enough guy. But he is misled by his intentions. And he spoke at last night's meeting in a not so eloquent manner that was off-topic from the application at hand.

Gatz has puported that Mascaro's have "offered him pennies on the dollar" to buy his property. Several things come to light. Gatz has been asked to make the "offers" public. Go ahead and show us Gatz! Show us how you were offered MORE than your property's fair assessed value! Show us how you were offered much much more than you could ever sell the property for!

The thing that Gatz doesn't realize is that when it comes to the discovery process of the Civil suit, is that he will be completely exposed for the real person that he tried so hard to disguise. He, like everyone else in the "United" group has nothing but a grudge against the proposed Racetrack and for not a good reason.

Ask yourselves this; how many properties did Mascaro buy in order to obtain an enough acreage to build a high-end racetrack facility? In all of the properties that he's bought (count: over 5), the original owners were quite happy with what they were offered and accepted.

Gatz on the other hand? Not everyone has to sell, but Gatz has made it sound like he was being cheated, and all he has done is expose himself to be the bufoon that he really is.... Sorry pal, the racetrack is going in and you'll have a front row seat from your back porch, like it or not.