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Court tosses appeal
Residents planning to resubmit objection
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The Georgia Supreme Court has refused to hear a challenge from a local couple against the city of Dawsonville over construction of a motorsports park in western Dawson County.

According to the order handed down in Atlanta on Monday, West and Helen Hamryka, whose home and horse farm sit adjacent to the park site on Duck Thurmond Road, failed to follow the discretionary procedure when filing their appeal.

Attorney Richard Wingate, who represents the Hamrykas, said he is in the process of re-filing.

"We're filing motions for reconsideration right now," he said Tuesday. "The court overlooked some very important provisions of our appeal, so we're bringing those items to the court's attention."

Dawsonville officials said the rejection is more good news for the city.

"There case just gets weaker and weaker," said Mayor Joe Lane Cox. "I think at some point, people just get tired of hearing about it."

The Hamrykas, who filed suit against the city and Atlanta Motorsports Park in 2009, city and Atlanta Motorsports Park in 2009, have maintained the park will create a nuisance by disturbing their way of life.

The couple also contends zoning law was violated when the mayor and city council approved the project without a development of regional impact study.

Northeastern Judicial Circuit Senior Superior Court Judge John Girardeau ruled to the contrary in March and released the city from the lawsuit.

According to his March ruling: "There are no allegations of any conduct of the city council members or mayor that do not relate to their vote on the zoning map amendment or the procedural issues surrounding it."

Wingate and his clients disagree.

"We still believe in the same position we had in the beginning, but now we're finally taking this to the Georgia Supreme Court to hopefully have that court show we were right the whole time," Wingate said earlier this month.

In an e-mail to Cox, City Attorney Dana Miles wrote that motions for reconsideration "are routinely denied by the court."

Construction of Atlanta Motorsports Park has continued throughout the legal challenges.

Jeremy Porter, founder and CEO of the facility, said earlier this month that paving was 90 percent finished.

Billed as a motorsports country club for families, the park will feature two miles of track designed for four- and two-wheel vehicles, a fast straightaway, rental garages and clubhouse.

Hiking trails, a fitness center, pool, tennis courts and a small restaurant are also in the plans.

According to Porter, more than $3 million in memberships have been sold.