.

That scenario has local officials worried about the future of one of Atlantic County's largest pieces of potentially developable land.

About 90 acres of the site's 255 acres are zoned for as many as 500 residential units. Township officials say it has the potential to, if fully built out, force the municipality to build at least one more school to handle all the new students the homes would bring.

While the rest of the site is zoned recreation-commercial, township officials contend the possibility remains for more significant residential development that would strain municipal resources.

Township Committeeman Joe Nickles wants to take the property's development options out of the hands of Greenwood Racing, the race track's parent company, whose holdings include Favorites, an off-track betting facility in Vineland, and Philadelphia Park, a casino and horse-racing facility in Pennsylvania. Nickles wants to declare the site a redevelopment zone and have the township oversee its future uses.

"I believe people have a right to live wherever they want to live," Nickles said. "I also believe it can be done in a way where the town can handle it."

While the rest of Township Committee doesn't seem sold on Nickles' idea, its members also worry about what will happen at the site, centrally located near major highways - and next to Hamilton Mall - in the heart of Atlantic County.

"It's very valuable land," Mayor Charles Pritchard said. "I think we need to really sit down with them and come up with a plan that would benefit not just them, but the entire township as well."

That could involve a skating rink, upscale office complex or a hotel-conference center, something that would not involve much more residential construction, Pritchard said.

"We don't want to see a big, empty property sitting there," he said.

Race course president Maureen Gallagher Bugdon realizes the real estate gold mind the track's property - currently assessed at $9.5 million and which pays almost $380,000 in local taxes - represents, but won't discuss what might happen past Wednesday's commission meeting in Trenton.

"We're not there yet," she said. "We're still very much fighting for our survival."

However, Bugdon said race track operators would be happy with some other development on the site, with one possibility being a new stadium for the Atlantic City Surf baseball club.

The chance exists that the racing commission could approve a six-day race schedule and the continuation of the status quo draws mixed reactions from inside the industry.

In a letter sent to state Sen. Jim Whelan, D-Atlantic, in June, the New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association said another six-day race schedule is nothing more than a "sham meet," held so the track can continue its simulcasting activities. However, the association apparently will not oppose the race course's request Wednesday.

The race course's future depends on money.

Atlantic City casinos are paying $90 million over a three-year period to keep video-lottery terminals out of New Jersey's horse-racing tracks by funding bigger purses at Monmouth Park, the Meadowlands and Freehold Raceway. The previous casino-funded pot totaled $86 million over four years.

Atlantic City Race Course was not part of the agreement, in part because track officials said they didn't think they would need any of the money as the facility seemed to be rebounding a few years ago. Track officials now say they need about $2 million - an allocation that would have to come from the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority - to sustain a 20-day racing schedule.

But there's some opposition in the state's horse-racing industry: The horsemen's association, which gets some of the $90 million, contends that reopening the agreement with the gaming industry would have more racing organizations scrambling to get some of the money.

Bugdon contends the track could still have a future and is pinning her hopes in part on a task force Gov. Jon S. Corzine will appoint to study the long-term viability of horse racing in New Jersey. She believes the track "should be spared" pending the results of the study.

"It may well offer some very valid solutions," she said.

E-mail Thomas Barlas:

TBarlas@pressofac.com