County Moves to Loosen Otay Raceway Restrictions

The Board of Supervisors moved Wednesday to ease some of the restrictions on a planned $30-million raceway at the east end of Otay Mesa, agreeing in concept to remove some of the obstacles that have blocked the progress of developer Roque de la Fuente II’s 5-year-old project.

In a series of votes, the supervisors extended De la Fuente’s permit for another three years, reduced demands for new road construction and changed security requirements for the proposed 70,000-seat auto racetrack complex.

“With today’s approvals, they basically resolved 80% of the problems,” said De la Fuente, whose family owns major tracts of South Bay land, including the site of the county’s new jail complex, for which he is seeking more than $55 million in a lawsuit against the county.

“We sincerely feel that if the board (finally) approves it and people want to make this thing happen, it could happen in two years,” he added.

De la Fuente’s American International Racing Inc. was awarded a permit in 1986 to build the track on 450 acres of land just east of the San Diego city limits at the end of Otay Mesa Road and just north of the international border.

With no major auto racing facility open in Southern California, De la Fuente said, he is confident of filling a 70,000-seat stadium twice a year, for both Formula One and stock car races. Smaller races would be held year-round.

He said the complex, whose plans also include a heliport for transporting accident victims, an overnight campground, a driving school and a musical theater, would bring jobs, tax revenue and television exposure to San Diego.

De la Fuente has been complaining that some of the permit conditions have made it too difficult for him to attract financing for the project. On Wednesday, the board agreed to drop a requirement that he construct an overpass that would have routed traffic from the Otay Mesa border crossing away from the raceway.

De la Fuente will have to build a mile-long, four-lane, east-west road, Siempre Viva Road, to provide a second entrance to the raceway and extend two-lane Otay Mesa Road half a mile east to his project.

He and the supervisors must still settle other issues, including whether the raceway will hook up to city sewer lines and how much fencing must be erected around the track. The supervisors are scheduled to vote in February.