The 11-turn, 2.238 street course – which was constructed in 1957 – is owned by Monterey County, which signed a long-term concession settlement with the non-profit group Pals of Laguna Seca (FLS) in July final yr to safe its long-term monetary future.
The Californian venue, famed for its Corkscrew sequence of corners, is scheduled to run seven main racing occasions in 2024, together with the IMSA SportsCar Championship in April and IndyCar Sequence in June, and was resurfaced final yr.
On 12 December, a bunch known as the Freeway 68 Coalition filed a lawsuit towards Monterey County, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors and the Pals of Laguna Seca, alleging nuisance points for native residents, together with elevated noise and visitors, throughout its use on race weekends and observe days.
Pals of Laguna Seca counters that the Freeway 68 Coalition is ‘making an attempt to interrupt its stewardship and enhancements of the Laguna Seca Leisure Space’.
“We stay right here too and share the identical considerations as our neighbors about noise and visitors,” mentioned Ross Merrill, President of FLS. “Our group of skilled enterprise and neighborhood leaders are keen to maneuver ahead to revive this staple in our neighborhood for many years of future success and income technology for Monterey County.”
Photograph by: Perry Nelson / Motorsport Photos
IMSA GTD motion at Laguna Seca
FLS states that it’s ‘certain within the concession settlement to the historic utilization of the Laguna Seca Leisure Space and the present insurance policies limiting attendance and sound on the Park’ and is ‘required beneath the contract to put money into the services and infrastructure together with a sound examine and noise mitigation’.
In its grievance, Freeway 68 Coalition – represented by attorneys Richard Rosenthal, Alexander Henson and Greg James – allege that the variety of occasions at Laguna Seca have elevated “considerably” over the past two years.
The lawsuit states: ‘These will increase embrace however should not restricted to extra racetrack occasion days, larger permitted noise ranges, extra observe rental days with intensified noise in extra of 100 dB, elevated visitors, insufficient water provide and water high quality, insufficient sewage disposal and enlargement of the tenting grounds.’
A spokesman for Monterey County informed sfgate.com that it “is unlucky sure people have chosen to file a grievance towards the County regarding operations at Laguna Seca” and that it “doesn’t acknowledge any advantage to the allegations and expects a positive authorized conclusion”.
The lawsuit is just not anticipated to influence any of Laguna’s operations throughout the 2024 season.
