Drafter
Clerk 10/02/2025
Title
AN ORDINANCE relating to the development of a regional motor sports facility demonstration project; amending Ordinance 17287, Section 9, and K.C.C. 21A.06.973C, and Ordinance 17287, Section 3, as amended, and K.C.C. 21A.55.105, and repealing Ordinance 17287, Section 5, and Ordinance 17287, Section 6.
Body
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF KING COUNTY:
SECTION 1. Findings:
A. Pacific Raceways, formerly operated as Seattle International Raceways, is on a three-hundred-twenty-seven-acre site located east of Kent and a quarter mile off of State Highway 18, and has historically served as a racetrack, consisting of a two and a quarter-mile road course, a drag strip, a dirt motocross track, and a kart track.
B. A racetrack has operated on the Pacific Raceways property for over fifty years. Throughout the various iterations of King County land use planning and regulation, the existence and operation of the racetrack has been recognized. While no longer in effect, both the 1979 Soos Creek Community Plan and its 1991 update provide valuable information about the racetrack. These past Soos Creek Community Plans acknowledged the challenges of the racetrack being located in a rural area. In 1998, King County readopted the Soos Creek Community Plan policy F-18, pertaining to what was then referred to as Seattle International Raceway, or "SIR," in Comprehensive Plan policy CP-314. King County's current land use plans and regulations continue to recognize the historic racetrack use.
C. The Pacific Raceways property is located in the rural area. The property has a Rural land use designation and Industrial zoning. The property has a property-specific development condition, also known as a P-suffix, SC-P02, which restricts the use of the property to racetrack and related uses, consistent with Comprehensive Plan policy CP-314. It is also subject to a conditional use permit, File No. A-71-0-81, which governs, in part, current developm...

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