Frontiersman

BUTTE - When officials at North Star Speedway announced in July that the Valley's only paved stock car track had been sold, drivers feared they would have no where to race.

When Earl Lackey, owner of Alaska Raceway Park in the Butte, announced he would be adding a 1/3 mile paved oval track to his property, already the home to a quarter-mile drag strip, residents began voicing their objections to the increased noise, and began to cause an uproar of their own. “There has been an overwhelming outcry from the people of the Butte opposed to the expansion of racing at Alaska Raceway,” said Lynne Woods, who represents the region on the borough assembly. “The people who live there already endure a lot of noise and traffic problems caused by the track. They believe they are entitled to a little peace and quiet and the addition of another race track to the area would not work.”

Increased noise is not the only objection being voiced by residents. A promise made by Lackey, after he purchased property to serve as a buffer to the drag strip, is what is making the Butte residents most upset.

“He told the Butte Community Council back in 1999 that he needed to purchase 27 acres of borough land for parking and noise abatement,” said Brit Lively, co-chair of the Butte Area Residents Civic Organization. “Now he announced that he will build an oval track on the property. One of the conditions was the purchase was the land be used for parking and a vegetative buffer.”

On the Butte Residents Organization Web page, residents also highlight a promise Lackey made before the community council prior to the land purchase.

“There will never be an oval track there,” Lackey said according to an excerpt of the minutes from the April, 2001 meeting of the Butte council.

“I've always been a man of my word, and I did say that,” Lackey said. “But what they're quoting is only part of what I said. My complete response to the question if I had plans to build an circle track was that I would never do so at Alaska Raceway while North Star Speedway was in operation. Now that North Star has been sold it makes sense to add an oval track.”

Lively indicated that Lackey has consistently broken promises regarding the track. Among them was a promise not to have nitro and jet cars and limiting the number of events.

Lackey continued to explain that he did examine the possibility of building the track on the 27-acre parcel in question, but determined with the help of members of the Southcentral Alaska Motorsports Association that it was not a practical location for the track on his property.

“We're going to put the track on the east side of the drag strip and existing pit area,” Lackey said. “The land we purchased back in 1999 is best suited for parking.”

He went on to explain that the location of the track adjacent to the Jim Creek Motorized Recreation area, managed by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, will provide a natural noise buffer.

“It will be on part of a quarter mile stretch next to the heavily wooded rec area,” Lackey explained. “That way we can have a shared pits area and will be more than a half mile away from anyone's home.”

Objections about a race track is nothing new to the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. Residents rallied to get a series of ordinances passed in an attempt to block the operation of North Star Speedway back in 1997, but by the time the regulations were approved the track had grandfather rights and was allowed to maintain operation.

According to Brit Lively, one problem with borough's ordinances is that they only apply to the Core area of the borough and do not reach out to the areas beyond the cities of Palmer and Wasilla.

Despite Lackey's willingness to address all the concerns of his neighbors, Lively and other members of the Butte Residents organization are circulating a petition to halt the planned development.

“We simply want the borough to halt the expansion of the track, and correct the conditions of the sale which would place restrictions back on the deed,” Lively said. “One track out here is enough.”

According to borough code compliance officer Ken Hudson there is little the borough can do to prevent the new track from being built.

“A part from making sure the public address system meets code requirements the borough can do very little,” Hudson said. “The volume coming over the loud speakers can only be so loud. Other than that we can insure that driveways are properly constructed and located.”

Lively is not surprised by the lack of willingness to address the residents concerns surrounding the track.

“Our main point is that the people, who live in the area surrounding the track, have been very tolerant with the track since the time it opened in 1964,” Lively said. “Asking us to tolerate the addition of another track to the area is just too much. Something has to be done for the people who live out here.”

Contact Darrell L. Breese at 352-2267 or at darrell.breese@

frontiersman.com.