Lime Rock neighbors mull offer to park cars on property for NASCAR trucks event

The NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series will make its debut at Lime Rock Park this summer.
Provided
The NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series will make its debut at Lime Rock Park this summer.
SALISBURY — Robert Jacopino, vice president of operations at Lime Rock Park, was visiting the Big E in West Springfield, Massachusetts, last fall when a “lightbulb moment” struck.
“I saw cars parked on people’s lawns throughout the neighborhoods and thought, we can have that at Lime Rock Park,” he recalled during a meeting with about a dozen neighboring property owners at the Lakeville venue’s infield chalet on Thursday, Feb. 27.
The hour long forum’s purpose was to gauge neighbors’ interests in hosting, and profiting from, patron parking on private property when the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series rolls into town the weekend of June 27, drawing what park officials have described as “the biggest event in Lime Rock Park’s history,” with expected attendance between 12,000 and 15,000 guests.
The event, said Jacopino, will be nationally televised on the FOX network.
“We are looking to share the prosperity with our neighbors,” said Jacopino, who in late January sent out a notice to Lime Rock Park neighbors inviting them to profit by parking cars on their property and inviting them to the Feb. 27 informational meeting.
Not only is the plan mutually beneficial to the park and to residents, he said, but “this will be a great economic opportunity for the immediate area, the Northwest Corner and beyond,” including restaurants, hotels and shopkeepers.
Some signed up, others undecided
Jacopino was joined by Tom Burke, director of track operations, as they answered questions, addressed concerns and handed out a generic parking plan with suggestions on how to delineate spaces, travel lanes, entrances and exits.
As of last week’s meeting, about a half dozen neighbors indicated interest in hosting off-site parking, and a handful of others said they had not yet decided but were weighing the option and had additional questions.
Jacopino estimated that 120 cars can fit on an average acre of land, and that the parking fee will range from $20 per car within a half mile of the track to $10 per car outside of a half mile.
“It’s going to be totally your revenue. We don’t want any part of it,” said Jacopino.
Lime Rock Park plans to supply each off-site location with a 2-foot by 2-foot official NASCAR parking sign and provide shuttle service for sites not within walking distance to the event, said Jacopino.“And we checked with the town, nobody needs a special permit to park cars in their yards,” he noted in response to a question from the group.
The park’s use of off-site parking is nothing new, as the nearby Trinity Church and other large-acreage fields have offered supplemental parking during large events, said park officials.
In addition to several private property owners, representatives from local businesses including the park’s neighbor, Heather Bloom Farm on White Hollow Road, and Housatonic Valley Regional High School, offered to park cars at their sites.
In addition, said Jacopino, local Boy Scouts have offered to assist with parking as a public service.
Robert Jacopino, vice president of operations at Lime Rock Park, met with about a dozen neighbors last week at the venue’s infield chalet to explain how they could benefit financially by parking cars on their property during the upcoming 2025 NASCARCraftsman Truck Series/ARCA event on June 27 and 28.Debra A. Aleksinas
HVRHS to offer paved parking option
Among attendees at the meeting were Melissa and Randy Dean, who said they were representing the owner of nearby While Hollow Farm and Vineyard and seeking details on the parking plan.
Jeffrey Tripp, class advisor at HVRHS, and Jeff Lloyd, facility manager, noted that the school’s parking lot would be an ideal alternative for patrons who arrive in “really nice cars” and prefer to park on a paved surface instead of fields.
They further noted that students have volunteered to assist with the parking flow.
Lloyd asked if they should plan on opening the parking area for both Friday and Saturday of the weekend event, or just Saturday.
Burke explained that Friday is traditionally the slower day for weekend events and that Saturday will lure the biggest crowds.
“Saturday is definitely the full monty,” Jacopino said.
In response to questions about parking and safety issues, Burke said State Police will provide full security, and that Lifestar “will be on the ground” both at the park and at the high school’s athletic fields in the event of a mass casualty incident.
Park officials noted that “No Parking” signs will be posted along Route 112, and along roads where off-site paid parking is being offered, and that all of the private parking areas are set back from the main roads.
“Tom has made leaps and bounds over the past two years getting the State Police involved so that there will be fewer parking jams,” said Jacopino.
Concerns about dogs, rain and litter
Dugway Road residents Linda and Thomas Walko were are “on the fence” as to whether they plan to offer their 11 acre property with an expansive, open meadow as an off-site parking location.
Linda Walko asked how to handle a situation where a patron arrives with a dog in their car, to which Lime Rock Park officials suggested they be turned away, as dogs are not allowed in the park or to remain in parked cars.
Thomas Walko, who races at Lime Rock, expressed concern that inclement weather could become an issue. “I can park a couple hundred of cars there, but if it rains, it will rip my place up.”
He also raised concerns about his fields being littered with beer cans and other trash, to which Jacopino suggested placing several visibly marked, large trash cans throughout the parking area.
The Lime Rock vice president said he has received a few calls from residents concerned about noise and traffic, but most of the feedback to the parking plan have been positive. He explained that all of the sites on private property will be “away from other people’s homes,” and on large parcels of land tucked back from main roads.
One meeting attendee asked: “Do the patrons coming aware that this is a small, New England town where there is not a lot of infrastructure?”
The Cooper family on Lime Rock Road is counting the days to the big NASCAR event, when parking will become a family affair.
Erica and Ryan Cooper said they plan to park about 200 cars on their two-and-a-half acre property. “Our three boys are pretty excited” about helping out, said Ryan.
‘Biggest event in Lime Rock Park’s history’
Lime Rock has a long history of hosting NASCAR events, having held 20 races over a 19-year span from 1993 to 2011.
After a 14-year hiatus, NASCAR will once again race at Lime Rock Park as the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series makes its debut at the Lakeville venue the last weekend in June.
In preparation for the event, the historic park is undergoing several updates during the off-season, including an extension to pit lane and additional safety features.
“To say that we are excited about this announcement is a major understatement, as this will surely be the biggest event in Lime Rock Park’s history,” said Dicky Riegel, the racetrack’s CEO.
“The combination of the NASCAR fan base in New England with the spectacular beauty of Lime Rock will create motorsports magic in Connecticut.”
LAKEVILLE — Nearly a month after closing the public hearing on the proposed Wake Robin Inn redevelopment, the Planning and Zoning Commission began its deliberations last week over the course of two special meetings devoted solely to the controversial project.
Over four hours of discussion helped the Commission to establish its position at this stage in the process, about a month before its statutory window to render a decision expires on Nov. 13.
By the end of the Oct. 9 meeting, the commission’s five voting members were split in their inclination towards approval or denial, with Secretary Martin Whalen and Regular Member Bob Riva indicating a favorable view, Vice Chair Cathy Shyer and Chair Michael Klemens leaning towards denial, and Regular Member Allen Cockerline expressing reluctance to suggest a vote before further conversation.
“We have more questions that have not been answered,” Klemens said.
“I think we’d all agree to that,” replied Cockerline.
The fundamental nature of those questions is: is the project still too big? And how does the Commission quantify “too big?”
This marked the second time the Commission has sat down to weigh the merits of an expansion proposal for the Inn. The applicant, Aradev LLC, had withdrawn a previous application in December 2024 after four of the five voting members indicated they would likely deny it. Since Aradev resubmitted a revised application this spring in response to feedback from P&Z and Salisbury residents, many neighbors have remained vocal in their continued opposition to the project, both during the public hearing and through community organizing.
Last week several commissioners expressed their gratification with Aradev’s responsiveness to the feedback and the thoroughness of the revised application, though the overall size of the development remained controversial. Cockerline praised the new proposal’s stormwater management plan in particular, which he described as “beyond anything I could’ve imagined.”
He also said it would note a marked improvement to the Inn’s current condition which he characterized as “functionally obsolete.” It should have been renovated 20 years ago,” he said on several occasions over the two meetings.
Klemens said that the application is “much better designed this go around, but still large.”
Shyer took a harder stance, one that echoed the sentiments conveyed in many a neighbor’s testimony during the public hearing. “The bottom line is, this is a big development,” she said. “It’s as big as the last one.” While the new plans have downsized the room count and building footprint from 2024’s application among other alterations, many residents have claimed that the currently proposed expansion is, in terms of impact, nearly identical.
Klemens closed in on a sentence in the town’s zoning regulation 803.3 that addresses impact on neighboring properties in the case of a special permit application as fundamental to the Commission’s deliberation. The clause states that the development may not “cause undue concentration of population or structures,” which Klemens said that, while a tricky thing to define, is the crux of the matter: “I think that’s been the heart of the whole thing. It’s the size; it’s the increase.”
Shyer suggested traffic as a potentially quantifiable metric by which the Commission could determine if the redevelopment is proportionally inappropriate for the location. Before the next meeting, which is scheduled for Oct. 16 at 7 p.m., the Land Use Office will seek data on how ingress/egress by Inn guests and restaurant goers will affect, by percentage, the number of cars at busy Lakeville intersections.
P&Z’s attorney Charles Andres was asked to seek out case law where “undue concentration” has been used as a basis for special permit denial. He said that the language, having appeared in the first national zoning enabling laws in the 1920s, is antiquated and has been phased out of many regulation books. He agreed that examples of its use in the special permit context will be helpful in pinning down such a vague concept.
The roof of the Grove was damaged by the tree, the event tent was punctured, a chef was injured and the Jubilee Luncheon was canceled Sunday, Oct. 12.
LAKEVILLE — The Lakeville Journal and The Millerton News Jubilee Luncheon fundraiser at the Grove Sunday, Oct. 12 was canceled after a very large section of a tree fell on the caterer’s tent at about 10 a.m.
Most of the catering staff heard the tree breaking up and got out of the tent in time, but the chef was hit by the falling limbs and sustained non-critical injuries.
A portion of the Grove’s roof sustained damage and branches came through the tent.
The Lakeville Hose Company responded to the scene. The chef was transported to Sharon Hospital by the Salisbury Volunteer Ambulance Service.
“While we’re deeply disappointed to cancel our annual fundraising event, our first concern is for our caterer’s chef, who was injured in the incident and is now recovering at home,” said James Clark, Publisher. “We’re grateful there were no more serious injuries, and we deeply appreciate the understanding and support of our honoree, underwriters, and guests.”
The incident occurred during preparation for the event, which would have centered around the presentation of the Estabrook Community Leadership Award to Bunny Williams.
Food that The Marketplace had prepared for the event was donated to People’s Pantry in Great Barrington.
Emergency responders block Amenia Union Road in Sharon Saturday, Oct. 11, while responding to the vehicle crash.
Updated Oct. 13, 9:25 a.m.:
SHARON — Shea Cassidy-Teti, 17, of Salisbury, died Saturday, Oct. 11, in a tragic car crash on Amenia Union Road in Sharon.
Connecticut State Police reported Charles Teti, 62, was driving his Jeep Grand Cherokee northbound on Amenia Union Road when, for an unknown reason, the vehicle crossed the southbound lane and exited the roadway where it struck a tree and home. Airbags deployed.
Teti and front seat passenger Aidan Cassidy, 63, sustained serious injuries. Teti was airlifted to Hartford Hospital and Cassidy was transported by ambulance to Sharon Hospital for treatment.
Shea Cassidy-Teti was in the back seat and sustained fatal injuries. He was pronounced dead on scene.
Cassidy-Teti was a senior at Kent School. He played on the football and tennis teams.
The residence that was struck is located at 35 Amenia Union Road.
The case remains under open investigation. Witnesses are asked to contact Trooper Lukas Gryniuk at Troop B 860-626-1821.
The residence at 35 Amenia Union Road sustained damage to the front of the structure, which can be seen from the street through the trees. Oct. 13.Photo by Ruth Epstein
LAKEVILLE — Rhys V. Bowen, 65, of Foxboro, Massachusetts, died unexpectedly in his sleep on Sept. 15, 2025. Rhys was born in Sharon, Connecticut, on April 9, 1960 to Anne H. Bowen and the late John G. Bowen. His brother, David, died in 1979.
Rhys grew up at The Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, where his father taught English. Attending Hotchkiss, Rhys excelled in academics and played soccer, basketball, and baseball. During these years, he also learned the challenges and joys of running, and continued to run at least 50 miles a week, until the day he died.
In 1982 after graduating summa cum laude from Harvard College, Rhys returned to Hotchkiss to teach biology, where he met his wife of 35 years, Rebecca (Becky) Snow. After two years of teaching, he worked at a research field site in Borneo, then went on to the University of California, Davis where he earned a PhD in Animal Behavior in 1995.
Rather than follow an academic tenure track, Rhys preferred the solitary focus of field ornithology, and he spent several decades researching the ecology of bird species in California and on Cape Cod and the Islands. Rhys believed passionately in supporting biodiversity through habitat preservation. His proudest achievements, therefore, came through his work for the Lakes Region Conservation Trust, in New Hampshire, where he served on committees and the Board of Trustees for twenty years, including three years as Chair.
Deeply intellectual and curious, Rhys learned Homeric Greek so he could read The Odyssey and The Iliad in their original language. An amateur Melville scholar, he would wax poetic about reading Moby-Dick for the umpteenth time.Rhys’s spirit was filled by the performing arts. Concerts by the Handel and Haydn Society and Boston Early Music Festival often brought tears to his eyes, while Boston Bluegrass Union shows delivered toe-tapping fidgetiness.
Rhys will be missed by his wife, Becky Snow, his mother, Anne Bowen, extended family, friends, and anyone who had the pleasure of knowing him.
A service will be held at The Hotchkiss School chapel on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025 at 1 p.m..
In honor of Rhys’s memory, donations can be made to the Lakes Region Conservation Trust.