War of words escalates over Safari at the Quarry Jeep event planned for Delmar

Citing a number of violations, letters from the Wicomico County Council and Salisbury City Council have added more bumps in the road for the beleaguered Safari at the Quarry offroad Jeep event set for May.

On Tuesday, the County Council sent a formal letter to the Office of the County Executive noting the Memorandum of Understanding for the event slated for the weekend of May 4 in Delmar was a repeated concern for the public.

They also said "the council is now aware that the event organizer is in breach of the MOU in numerous ways, and accordingly, the majority of the council request that you immediately notify Live Wire Media, Inc.that the event is terminated as permitted under the Termination Provision contained in the MOU."

According to the letter, infractions include, but are not limited to:

• failing to obtain all licenses, permits and governmental approvals needed;

• placing the event course outside the property identified in the memorandum;

• and failing to properly inform neighboring property owners of the scheduled event.

The County Council further contended, pursuant to the terms of the memorandum, the event organizer and the county agreed that the event would be held on 111.58 acres of the Connelly Mill Road property. Parcels 169 and 167 of the park total exactly 111.58 acres. That was followed by the event organizer posting a map of the event course which showed "a substantial portion of the event" scheduled to take place on more than the allotted acreage.

Allegations by the council added the event organizer failed to fully make the true scope of the event known to homeowner groups like the Shadow Hills Homeowners Assocation.

"This breach compounds the problem created by (the Office of the County Executive) when you did not inform the council about the (memorandum) and intentionally made the term of the (memorandum) 364 days to avoid the legal requirement for council approval of any agreement with a term of more than one year," the letter stated.

Wicomico County Attorney Paul Wilber responded to the County Council letter on behalf of County Executive Julie Giordano, claiming their grounds for canceling the MOU were unfounded. Giordano doubled down on her support for the event and its organizer, making it clear she had no intention of terminating the memorandum.

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"While we appreciate the council's concern, it is not their purview to determine whether contractors adhere to contracts or MOUs," Giordano said. "That is something that rests solely in the executive branch. We have analyzed their letter, and after speaking with our attorney, there is absolutely no validity in their claims that the (event organizer) had violated the MOU. We will not be canceling the contract because we don't have any grounds to do so."

Giordano added the county does not want to be in the business of "breaking contracts, especially when no violations have occurred."

A question of zoning for coming Delmar Jeep event?

In a rare move, the city of Salisbury also entered the fray by sending its own letter to the county executive, claiming, while the county owns the land on which the event is to take place, the city is tasked with zoning it according to how it sees fit. Currently, the Connelly Mill Road property is not zoned for such a use as a large-scale offroad event.

"This property, although owned by Wicomico County, is located within Salisbury city limits and is zoned R-8A Residential. Neither your company or Wicomico County consulted with the city prior to entering the (memorandum) nor did the county otherwise seek the city's permission or approval for the anticipated event," said the letter sent last Friday to Giordano by the legal counsel for the city of Salisbury.

The letter also argues any likely legal challenge to the city's zoning code will be impacted by the public outcry over the event being proposed and the way in which the memorandum was created.

"The use of the property by Live Wire, as detailed in the memorandum, is clearly private in nature and does not fall within any exemption of the city's zoning code. On behalf of (the city), it is respectfully requested that Live Wire take immediate action to discontinue this event and all future events at the Connelly Mill Road property," the city's letter stated as it urged the matter be dealt with without resorting to legal challenges.

The city added it wanted Live Wire to assure residents by Wednesday, April 24, the event was no longer taking place.

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The county 'never sought the city's permission'

On Wednesday, Wilber responded to the pair of letters from the County Council and the city of Salisbury, stating in a letter "the county never sought the city's permission to develop or utilize property like the Parker Athletic Complex property (another site that was not zoned for such a use, but was owned by the county), because the county is exempt from city oversight and city zoning regulations."

According to Title 17 of the county code, Wilber noted, "land, buildings or other structures" owned by or leased solely to the federal government, the state of Maryland, Wicomico County or the city of Salisbury can be used without approval from the city.

"Until last week, the city has never interfered with the county's determination that a county owned property in the city is being operated for public use. Like the many sports tournaments at the Parker Athletic Complex, the Safari at the Quarry is also a public purpose event, which will have a positive community impact," the letter said.

The office of the County Executive also provided copies of communication between Live Wire and residents of the of the local neighborhoods and between Giordano's office and the former president of the Shadow Hills Homeowners Assocation on Oct. 2, 2023.

"We moved into the neighborhood two years ago and were told about the plans for the park and it was a major draw," Mikele Dahlen, the current president of the HOA and local resident near the quarry property. "It was through Facebook ads that we learned about the event, and we were very confused. Our previous president, Casey Taylor, had a very unsatisfactory meeting with the county executive and voiced her concerns."

Upon taking the post as the new president, Dahlen and other residents believed the event would last only two days, and plans to make it a park would continue.

"Then we saw it was going to be a 'premier offroad facility for the Eastern Shore' and many other things that wasn't the case. (Live Wire) hasn't spoken to the environmental stewards of Wicomico County, and I reached out to the event organizer and had a good conversation, but then his website said things that were very different," Dahlen said.

Giordano still contends the homeowners’ association was notified of the event on approximately Sept. 28, 2023, in a meeting with the County Executive. The homeowners’ association was notified of the event by the event organizer on approximately Nov. 17, 2023, by telephone conversation with the then-HOA president. Finally, the County Council, in the presence of subdivision residents, was briefed by the event organizer at a public council meeting on Dec. 5, 2023. The event organizer has been available to answer questions by subdivision residents since October 2023.

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This article originally appeared on Salisbury Daily Times: City, county escalate war of words of Jeep event planned for Delmar