lil'Zeus

Heres what a buddy sent me, and its from the KC Star, which some of you may have already read! Later

Seems it's just a suggestion at the moment.

Nace proposes KC help raceway relocate to end dispute with neighbors
By JOE ROBERTSON The Kansas City Star
Date: 12/11/01 22:15

The often-acrimonious battle between Kansas City International Raceway and
many of its southeast Kansas City neighbors turned in a direction this week
that few of those involved thought was possible.

Both sides are talking about a peaceful resolution, whereby the city would
help the raceway's owners relocate the track.

The peace offering was served up by Councilwoman Becky Nace on the eve of a
scheduled Board of Zoning Adjustment hearing Tuesday.

Virtually all details -- including the new location -- still must be worked
out. It's far from a done deal.

"But we are talking and trying to work together...instead of throwing
punches at each other," said Jeff Martin, one of the track's owners.

Christine Kemper, one of the homeowners opposed to the track, said: "There
is a spirit of cooperation that didn't exist 48 hours ago. We totally
understand each other."

Nace gathered representatives from both sides into a meeting Monday with
Councilman Terry Riley to see whether the city, with the help of the
Economic Development Corp. of Kansas City, could lay the groundwork for a
long-term solution.

Nace said she scrambled to bring everyone together before Tuesday's hearing
-- which eventually was postponed to Jan. 22 because the city failed to
properly publicize a closed session with city attorneys.

Track owners want the zoning board's approval to upgrade facilities, but the
Little Blue Valley Homes Association says the track is improperly zoned and
should be required to move or shut down.

The zoning dispute, Nace said, promises only to continue the "contentious
and volatile" battle that peaked again when hundreds of racing fans and
homeowners crowded into the City Council chambers Oct. 23 to testify before
the board.

In the current dispute, "someone will win and someone will lose," Nace said.
"But we have another solution that can take care of this issue forever."

Nace said the Economic Development Corporation has identified four possible
locations in south Kansas City and Kansas City, North, but she declined to
be specific.

Any site, she said, would allow the track to expand, be accessible by
freeway, give it high visibility and -- most important -- not be surrounded
by residential development.

"We would be able to ensure that their battles with neighborhoods are
ended," Nace said.

Martin said the track owners were intrigued by the idea of being able to
expand and bringing in National Hot Rod Association events.

The track sits on 97 acres at 8201 S. Noland Road. Securing land and
building a new facility of a similar size would cost about $8 million,
Martin estimated. A larger facility, on 250 to 300 acres, could cost $25
million, he said.

The city likely would have to propose financial incentives to help the track
relocate, Martin said, but he can envision economic benefits from a larger
venue that would help the city recoup any investment.

Meanwhile, the issues before the Board of Zoning Adjustment remain. Both
sides have their eyes on the long-term resolution, but until some of the
details emerge, they are not backing off their legal positions.

"We've been presented with an option that could be mutually beneficial,"
said the homes association president, Dan Porrevecchio. "But we have no idea
where this stands as a practical reality."


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Shane L.

"A youth becomes a man when the mark he wants to leave on the world has nothing to do with tires....."

MO Lightning

Somebody with some political clout and a big set of balls needs to go in and just tell the local homeowners to kiss their ***!!! They built their houses next to a drag strip!!! HEL-LO!!! Does anyone else see how ridiculous this is? The track hired a sound guy and he measured noise at the front of one of the homeowners' driveways at the same decibel level of a standard car driving by! In other words, if they are in the house, they probably won't hear a thing! The local homeowners are trying to get the track closed on technicalities. If the track had followed the zoning/permit rules, the ba$tards wouldn't have a leg to stand on. Strength in numbers ain't gonna cut it. They tried that and it failed. One of the proposed sights is to move it up by KCI airport. Yeah, like I'm going to drive to BFE to make a couple passes on a Wednesday night. Screw 'em, they'll see the reprocussions if they close the track. Shane, I'd rather go to HPT than drive to the airport. They also mentioned Richards-Gebauer airport, but I'm sure Raintree would ***** then. Pi$$ on 'em. I'll just buy a G-Tech and find a local patch of road to play on. Oh, and if you couldn't tell, this is a sore subject with me.

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Brendon Hale
Black '94L #620 born Thursday, February 24, 1994 NLOC #662
(future testbed for No Control Motorsports)
Green(ish) '84 Bronco II-Gets bad gas mileage, but has a little 2.8L with NO POWER!!!-gettin' sold.
'86 Honda CR125R MX'er-For Sale
'92 Jeep Wrangler-soon to be in driveway...

MKLO fall 2001 meet at Neil's

RhinoRacn

I am all for the South KC location, if what Brendon says is possible then I am for putting it on the old air base!!!!! It is 15 mins from me

Dpracing

i would rather see it in the north-east or west kc area near the interstate system & so would a lot of other racers that live north of kc-if they put it south of where it is now it would be closer for us to go to the new track in iowa that is to open this spring--as it is now its 72 mile 1 way to kcir for me & more for others(its 100 miles 1 way to hpt for me)

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Dave
Blk 93 #2757
nloc#521
14.54 @ 91.96(my son jason)
14.57 @ 91.80(me)