A Delaware County judge has refused to hold the Harpersfield-based New York Safety Track (NYST) and its manager, Greg Lubinitsky, in contempt for allegedly violating a declaratory judgement that prohibited racing, automobiles, large engines, and large crowds.
Opponents of NYST have argued that throughout May 2014, the track violated the judgement with the presence of automobiles, more than six motorcycles, and more than 25 people at a time.
In a July 8 decision, Judge Brian Burns wrote that his hands are tied in a matter that the town of Harpersfield must enforce.
"A finding of contempt is not authorized for alleged violations of a declaratory judgement under our laws," Burns wrote, adding that the opponents of the track "must rely on their municipality to enforce its local laws."
The ruling came after the track opponents won a victory in January when Judge Burns ruled that the track must adhere to the limitations of a 2011 site plan.
The track's opponents and their lawyer, Douglas Zamelis, attempted to enforce those limits this spring by filing a motion for contempt against the track. On June 26, they filed a second motion for contempt, this time against the Town of Harpersfield's code enforcement officer.
The first motion for contempt was denied by Burns last week. Allyson Phillips, the lawyer for the town of Harpersfield, expects the motion against the code enforcement officer to fail as well.
"The Town expects the Petitioners’ request to hold the Code Enforcement Officer in civil and criminal contempt will be denied for the same reasons stated in the [July 8] Decision and Order," Phillips wrote to the Watershed Post in an email today.
Phillips did not respond to questions about whether the town of Harpersfield or its code enforcement officer would enforce the limits on the track's operations.
Zamelis, the lawyer for the track's opponents, and John Henry, the lawyer for the Safety Track, did not return calls for comment.
"If racing is clearly prohibited, why advertise it?"
On Friday, June 13, 60 or 70 supporters of the Safety Track and about 20 of its opponents packed a courtroom at the Delaware county courthouse in Delhi to hear arguments over whether the Safety Track should be held in contempt.
Above: Supporters of the New York Safety Track enter the Delaware County courthouse on June 13, 2014, to attend a motion for contempt hearing. Photo by Julia Reischel.
At the hearing, Zamelis, the track opponents' attorney, argued that the track "must have made a calculated decision to ignore [the] court's order," operating in "flagrant disobedience."
"What they're trying to do is completely eliminate any use of the track," countered the track's lawyer, John Henry.
Henry admitted, however, that the track made a "mistake" when it planned and advertised a racing event, which is prohibited under the town's site plan.
"If racing is clearly prohibited, why advertise it?" Burns asked.
"It was clearly a mistake, an error in judgement," Henry said.
At the hearing, Burns reserved his most pointed comments for the town of Harpersfield, criticizing the town's code enforcement officer for issuing a May 30 letter outlining the town's position on the track.
"I think you're on very dangerous ground," Burns said to Allyson Phillips, the town's attorney. "You have a court order that says, 'This is what it's limited to.' Now you're telling me that the code enforcement officer is just going to ignore that and offer his own interpretation?"
"No coercive effect"
In his written decision, Burns seemed to back down, writing that his January ruling about the limitations on the track "has no coercive effect."
The New York Safety Track characterized the ruling as a victory, writing on its Facebook page that "we just won a crucial court case." Track manager Greg Lubinitsky could not be reached for comment at press time.
But the group of neighbors who are suing the track for violating its 2011 site plan found much to celebrate in the ruling, particularly Judge Burn's statement that "there appear to be activities at the Safety Track presently which differ from those contemplated by the 2011 site plan approval."
In his ruling, Burns criticized the track for scheduling and advertising prohibited "Pit-Bike" races and for claiming that all motorcycle engines that use the track are less than 250cc, a claim that was, according to Burns, "received with snorts of derision, disbelief, and looks of shocked horror by many of those who attended court to support the track."
In a press release, the group of track opponents, the Concerned Residents of Delaware County, said that the judge's July 8 ruling confirmed that the activities at the track are "illegal," and took aim at the supervisor of the town of Harpersfield, Jim Eisel.
"We, the local area residents, are disappointed that Harpersfield Supervisor Jim Eisel Sr. and his town board continue to allow the illegal racetrack calling itself NY Safety Track to make a mockery of our local laws," wrote Dana LaCroix, one of the plaintiffs, in the emailed statement. "It is worrisome that Supervisor Eisel and his town board will support an illegal business whose representatives will stand in front of a judge and make statements that even its supporters seem to regard as blatant lies."
