On March 17, the City-County Planning Commission of Warren County determined that it would table its decision on the NCM Motorsports Park revised solution to the noise complaints filed against it by the residents of Clark Circle.
The National Corvette Museum Motorsports Park saw plenty of support at the meeting on Thursday evening, which was held on the third floor of City Hall. During the 4 hours of deliberation, Bill Bowlby represented the National Corvette Museum and conveyed the results of a noise analysis performed by Bowlby & Associates, Inc. which determined that the noise levels emitted by the park fell short of the Federal Highway Administration’s definition of substantial noise increases.
Attorney Chris Davenport, who represents the residents of Clark Circle, made his argument against the evidence proposed by Bowlby, stating that it was fault or misleading. “They have not suggested to you a lack of substantial increase in surrounding properties,” Davenport said. “They have suggested some seven adjacent properties out of the 50-some I represent.” He also claimed that the noise reduction is not very effective for properties that are farther away from the track, due to “acoustic shadow.”
For now, all we can do as ‘outsiders looking in’ is support the park by signing the petition created by resident of Bowling Green who believes that the park is a big contributor to both the community and its economy. To us, this acoustic shadow phenomenon is a bit of a stretch, but it might just be enough for Davenport to sway the judge. What are your thoughts as this conflict continues to unfold? Sound off in the comment section below.
Comments
buy out the complainers and rent the houses out to make the mortgage payments
give ’em new C7 base Corvettes, life time membership and track use, be cheaper!!
i would rent/buy one. these people are just like alot of americans today. if they dont complain about something they arent happy. i believe since they knew about the park being built that they should have complained then. now it looks like they are sueing for the big $$$$$$$$$. NO, DO NOT GIVE THEM A NEW OR USED CORVETTE. They couldnt drive it anyway because their brains couldnt take the nice rumble of a vette.
Owner of a 15 Z06 and loving it. over 16,000 miles and climbing.
1) I am certain there was a very lengthy process to get the park approved in the first place. This would have required all local residents to sign off on the park and the county board to approve building the park.
2) There would have been numerous public hearings prior to permit approval. Where were the complainers at that time?
3) If the noise analysis really did show the noise levels to be below the FHA threshold, that should be the end of the subject.
4) I wonder how many of the people involved in the lawsuit profit either directly or indirectly from the Corvette assembly plant, museum or the park?
5) I hope when this is settled, the people who filed the lawsuit have to reimburse the park for attorneys fees.
One aspect of this story that is never mentioned and I would like to know is; How often are cars running on the track? Is it everyday from sunrise to sunset, a couple hours every day, or just on the weekends? If it is every day for long periods of time, then I can see a valid complaint from the closest of neighbors. If it is only on weekends, they just need to suck it up and know that this museum and track are doing more for the community than just about every other business going in that area. To me this is no different than a housing development where every Wednesday and Thursday they have landscapers with mowers, blowers, chainsaws, and weed-eaters going for hours on end, then capping it off with several trash trucks running up and down the streets on Friday.
Look, I’m a Vette owner, and am looking forward to going to the track some day, but you know the community will never accept a sound level report paid for by the people promoting the track, no matter how well-meaning the intentions were. A neutral judge should appoint a sound check to be done by an impartial scientific company, and BOTH parties must agree beforehand to accept the results.