The facility has recently been granted consents, with 101 conditions attached.
Cromwell Motorsport Park Trust Ltd, which owns the Cromwell-based park, sought consents from the Central Otago District Council to replace existing ones "to overcome ambiguity and uncertainty''.
A two-day hearing was held in October before independent commissioner Denis Nugent.
The original consent application for the park was also heard by a commissioner, as the council sold the land to the park developers.
Eighty-two submissions were received on the latest application, with 62 supporting the park, 17 opposing and three neutral.
In his decision, Mr Nugent granted consent, subject to 101 conditions.
Fifteen related to controls and monitoring of noise levels and he said a noise-management plan had to be implemented.
Most of the opponents cited noise as their main concern.
Mr Nugent approved Highlands classifying its activities according to a two-tier system, depending on the amount of noise generated.
Usual operating days were classified as tier 1 activities and race days were classified as tier 2.
No maximum number of tier 1 days was set but an upper limit of 16 tier 2 days was imposed.
Mr Nugent set noise limits for each of those activities and outlined how the levels should be monitored.
"It was apparent from the submitters that I heard that their concerns resulted from the noise of the facility on days which were not race days ... I understood from their submissions that there are occasions when the noise received from the facility is intrusive and continual,'' Mr Nugent said.
The park trust also sought consents for retail and commercial activities that breached the district plan standards on visual effects, noise, storage, parking, signs, earthworks and noxious effects.
The $31 million park opened two and a-half years ago and in its application, the trust said 150,000 people visited in the first 20 months.
Twenty full-time staff were employed, increasing to 45 in summer.
Mr Nugent said the positive effects of Highlands' plans needed to be weighed against the adverse effects, which would be minor after taking into account the conditions he was imposing.
"... I am conscious of the fact that if consent were refused, much of the activity could continue with similar or worse adverse effects. Individual additional activities could obtain consent relying on the nature of the existing environment, without the ability to comprehensively manage the effects of the activities at the motorsport park in the way that this application enables,'' he said.
