Car fans want show, Dundee Township says no

A group of classic car enthusiasts has hit a dead end in planning for an event at Raceway Woods in Carpentersville.

Members of the Meadowdale International Raceways Preservation Association want to hold an event in September - similar to last fall's 50th anniversary for the race track - but the Dundee Township board has denied its proposal.

On Tuesday night, group member Wayne Bastiaans, of Carpentersville, will present the board a petition signed by local officials in Carpentersville and, he hopes, East and West Dundee, in an effort to change township trustees' minds.

"We want to show the board that we are a responsible group of people and not a bunch that will tear up the land with our RVs," Bastiaans said.

But Dundee Township Supervisor Sue Harney said agreements with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the Besinger family, which sold part of the land to the township in 2001, prevent motorized vehicles for recreational purposes or profiting from events held on the site.

"The intention was to use this as a preservation area, not for people to come in and use it," Harney said. "If we allow this, we would have to allow anybody who wanted to do something similar. And we are not prepared to do that."

The board meets at 7 p.m. at the clerk's office in the lower level of the Dundee Township Library, 557 Barrington Ave.