The Morrison town board narrowly approved the 125-acre annexation of the former Bandimere Speedway site at its Aug. 6 meeting.
The deal also calls for the new land owner to transfer 16 acres zoned for mixed-use to the town, giving Morrison control over future retail or commercial development at its front door. Trustee Sean Forey described the acreage near C470 and Morrison Road as “prime real estate.”
That decision, paired with a second vote to rezone the land to planned development, clears the way for global auto company Copart to move ahead with plans for a vehicle auction center on the remaining property. Copart is under contract with John Bandimere, Jr. to buy the land.
As part of the deal, Copart will take down the grandstands, stadium lights and signs, then fence and revegetate much of the speedway site. Developers describe the planned future operation as a “passive use” that will be quiet, and preserve views of the hogback.
Because of that, several residents and trustees said it fits with Morrison’s motto of “Keep Morrison Morrison,’” a slogan built around the idea of maintaining the community’s small-town feel and history.
“Morrison’s not going to get a better deal,” Forey said as he cast his vote for the annexation. “It’s the lowest (impact) use possible. It would be a real problem if Morrison didn’t take advantage of this time to control this property. I’m voting with the majority of the residents in the town to keep Morison Morrison.”
Longtime speedway owner John Bandimere Jr. and his wife Lorraine both shed tears during the public hearing. Bandimere said it’s been his family’s “home away from home” for 65 years, but said changes in the racing industry and encroaching development are making the site unsuitable for the speedway. Bandimere plans to move the business to a larger site near the metro area.
“Do we want to leave? No,” Bandimere said, pausing with his head down for a long moment as emotion threatened to overtake him. “This property is sacred ground to me and my family, as well as the community and especially our racers who we’ve seen grow up. It’s probably one of the hardest things we’ve ever had to do.
“But we do know things in life change,” he continued. “Copart has the same principles we built our business on. We feel it’s important to leave our land in the hands of someone who wants to be an integral part of the community and will make it better.”
Copart corporate counsel Jon Lawson said the company will hire about 20 employees at the site, which will be open weekdays. The center will include about 66 acres of outdoor vehicle storage, office and administrative building and employee and visitor parking.
“We try to be a good neighbor,” he said. “There will be no live auctions. We don’t part these (vehicles) out. We won’t crush them. We won’t stack them. We make money when these vehicles leave the site, not when they stay on site.”
The agreement also limits Copart to three water taps and puts a cap on water usage.
Copart consultant Marcus Pachner said the developer was generous in agreeing to give the town 16 acres on the south end of the property nearest the town, a request town trustees made during negotiations.
“We had an average of five commercial brokers a week calling us about those properties,” he said. “It is very valuable, a remarkable asset. This annexation deal has been so smartly crafted to limit town costs. It is a very good fiscal deal.
“It will have less intensity and less scale than what is there today. It also honors the automotive legacy on this site.”
The board was unanimous on a separate vote to rezone the property but split four to three on the annexation.
Trustee Paul Sutton, among those who voted against it, said he felt the deal was rushed.
“Copart is one thousand times bigger than the town of Morrison financially, so I think we’re inviting a gorilla to our little town,” he said. “Any disputes we may have after (this), we will lose. I think Copart can make Jeff Bradley look like a bit player in town.”
Bradley, whose family has lived in the area since the Civil War, owns several Morrison properties, including the Café Prague and Morrison Joe buildings, and a parking lot on Bear Creek Avenue.
“I would prefer to see a more sophisticated party like Jefferson County be the ones to negotiate what happens on this land,” he said. “I feel like this is a rushed marriage between the little town of Morrison and the big company of Copart, and I’m concerned it might not work out so well.”
Trustee Katie Gill agreed, pointing to the 500 pages of information developers presented to the board just days before the hearing. Regardless, she said she sees many potential benefits to Copart’s plans and the deal the two entities have crafted.
“In the beginning, I was opposed to this proposal,” she said, before casting a ‘no’ vote on the annexation. “But I now believe the view will be better than it is now; people are not going to be gazing at a junkyard as the original concern was. There is also not a development on the planet that would use less water on 124 acres.
“I think this is probably a good deal for the town,” Gill continued. “But I think I am personally not in a place where I should be voting for something I haven’t fully understood.”
Trustee David Wirtz also voted against the annexation.
Town residents who spoke at the hearing were in favor of the annexation and Copart — even as some lamented the loss of the speedway.
“Bandimere had the sound of summer; I always welcomed that noise,” said Morrison planning commissioner Maya Stefansdottir. “I like the idea (that the) town of Morrison will get about 16 acres. I’m thinking if we don’t take them, someone else will and we might not like what they put in.”
Longtime resident Gus Chambers agreed.
“This use of that land I think is a dream come true for the town,” he said. “It’s zoned for high-impact commercial. You can’t find anything more low impact, or low light (than Copart). The town really ought to step in and grab this. Only if it’s annexed can the town control what goes on there.”
John Bandimere Sr., now 86, bought the 150-acre property on Morrison Road in 1957 — decades before C470 was built — and opened the speedway a year later. Also known as Thunder Mountain, the dragstrip hosted 28,500 spectators at more than 130 events a year. Bandimere Speedway closed at the end of the 2023 season.