As we near March 17th, the day when the City-County Planning Commission of Warren County will consider the revised development plan of the National Corvette Museum‘s Motor Sports Park to assuage noise complaints filed against it, details of said plan have emerged.
NCM’s plan proposes erecting structures that will reduce sound pollution for residents of Clark Circle, who have lodged the complaints against the track. The structures include a 12-foot wall in addition to the 14-foot-high, 1,620-foot-long noise berm already in place. The plan also suggests that noise abatement walls be built in critical areas near the edge of the track.
Even so, Chris Davenport, a Bowling Green attorney representing the residents of Clark Circle, does not believe said structures will be enough to make the residents happy. You see, NCM has verbally stated that it will limit the maximum decibel level to 103 for vehicles at the park. But Mr. Davenport claims that noise is perceived as twice as loud as what it actually is — meaning cars with a 103 decibel level sound to those residing next to the track as having a decibel level of 206. As of now, the “substantial noise” decibel level has not yet been defined.
So, does Davenport pose a sound argument? We came across this informative website that compares decibel levels to real-life sound levels. It states that 110 decibels is about as loud as a night club with a band playing. Granted, multiple racecars making this much noise simultaneously is quite loud, but how much of this sound actually carries over to the citizens’ residencies?
All in all, there are many factors to consider in this situation, and we’re curious to see it all unfold. But as car and motorsport enthusiasts ourselves, we’ll admit that we sympathize more with NCM than the residents who are complaining about “race car noise”. And we’re not alone, as there are others who support NCM in this situation as well.
The next steps are as follows: the City-County Planning Commission of Warren County will consider the revised development plan on March 17th, while the legal side of things will be settled on March 28th, when Warren District Judge, John Brown, will determine the outcome of NCM’s appeal. The lawsuit is scheduled to be settled on November 1st, by Warren Circuit Judge John Grise.
Comments
Ridiculous, it seems like NCM is going above and beyond they’re legal responsibility. It’s not like they were hiding what they were building in the first place. “Yeah, we’re ok if you build that racetrack.” Racetrack opens…”you mean them cars are gonna make all that noise?” SMH. Seems like a bunch of people that are trying to get some money any way they can. It may never be resolved, no matter what NCM builds, until they fork over cash.
Decibel levels work on the log scale, so a 103 Db noise perceived as twice as loud would be 113 Db – not 206 Db. 206Db noise would kill you.
Based on another GMA post there are track events for a total of 9 days.
Perhaps an open day event with an invite to the Clark County residents would allow for some further engagement?
What if track traded some time for the local school’s drivers ed courses (they still do driver ed right ??)
What will the tax ramifications to the county be if the track is closed?
Was the track there before thee people had there homes built? Like people complaining about cow manure smells when they built next to a farm!
A cheaper and easier solution. Give them all a Corvette and open ownership lifetime pass to use the track. I know I’d be happy if I were them, unless they’re too old to drive but then they couldn’t hear $hit anyway….sooooo….F’em.