I wrote a fairly long letter to the Maricopa Planning and Development board.
I just got this reply 20 minutes ago:

Sir: there is a Temporary Use Permit (TUP) for Speedworld that has been continued from 2/14/13 to the 3/21/13 Board of Adjustment (BOA) hearing at the request of Speedworld’s legal counsel. The staff report prepared for the 2/14/13 BOA is attached. I trust this will answer your questions. Darren


Darren V. Gérard, AICP, Deputy Director
Maricopa County Planning & Development Department
501 N. 44th St. # 200 Phoenix, AZ 85008
602-506-7139, 602-506-3711 (fax)
darrengerard@mail.maricopa.gov
www.maricopa.gov/planning

This is a post on the RC fliers thread:

The property that Speedworld rests upon is owned by the State of Arizona. It is in the eighth year of a ten year lease to Mathews. Prior to his lease it had been repeatedly leased (10 year increments) to another individual who is now deceased. The RC field has been there the past 26 years and under a sub-lease to the individual holding the Speedworld lease. Unknown to the club members the State does not now, nor have they ever recognized a sub lease. Additionally, the RC flying club never approved, nor knew about any sort of Liquor permit, on loan to Mathews until approximately 2 years ago; as it had been done under the table and on a cash basis by a previous club president. The annual rent was also paid in a like manner until about a year ago when the new club leaders took over and cleaned up/eliminated that on-going mess. While it is true that the Speedworld lessee was recently cited for allowing teenagers access to both beer and admittance to midnight wet T-shirt contests; the club has absolutely no connection to either of these occurrences. With respect to our eviction from the flying site it is based on the fact that we've never had a sub-lease to our field that is recognized by the State. Two other entities at Speedworld share the same fate (Nitro cars and Paintball). It's a bit more complicated than Mathews simply paying for some permits, as the local media has reported that his back rent, permit fees, and fines for upgrades with appropriate permits total more than
$ 2.5M. It is also widely believed that the State has future intentions for using their property in some other fashion.
I hope this puts rest to this entire debacle, as this is the last post I shall make concerning this matter. The members of our club are being welcomed by other clubs in the area and we are getting back in the business of flying for fun and not putting out fires in the desert.