Fairgrounds racing limited

Feb. 9, 2007

By SHARON G. McBRIDE

Frontiersman

PALMER - Neighbors of the Alaska State Fair troubled by noise from the race track there were granted a figurative victory lap Wednesday night.

Racing will continue at the fairgrounds, but only during the span of the Alaska State Fair.

Fair officials had hoped for permission to hold motor sports events at other times. But area residents protested.

City hall was packed with concerned citizens all looking to exercise their right to participate in the decision-making process, although the public hearing on the issue had come and gone.

That didn't matter, as Palmer citizens had their say during the public comment portion of the meeting, and by the end of the long night the commission voted accordingly.

&#8220The people of Palmer are speaking,” said Michael Kircher, chair of the planning and zoning commission. &#8220I think the question here is ‘are we going to listen to them or not?'”

The commission got the community's message loud and clear after listening to a few hours of public comment. Members voted 6 to 0, to grant the conditional-use permit, but only after placing extensive limitations on the fair's ability to hold motorized sporting contests and outdoor concerts.

&#8220I came into this with a totally different view,” said Darrin Hamming, commissioner. &#8220But after hearing all this public testimony I changed my mind.”

At the heart of the public testimony was a race track and the noise that goes with it. In 2005, the fair built a race track in an effort to create more revenue. Instead, all it created was controversy.

Homeowners and other residents who lived within a 25-mile radius of the fairgrounds complained so much about noise from the track that the fair had no choice but to cut back on racing events in 2006.

But recently, when fair officials proposed a new schedule to hold races throughout the summer, starting this year, the complaints began rolling in - again.

So for the past few months, the commission has been debating whether to grant the fair a permit, even though historically it has always operated without one, despite being within city limits and subject to all city codes.

&#8220Conditional use often extends beyond property,” said Sara Jansen, the city's community development coordinator. &#8220And in this case, it's a noise issue with the racing.

&#8220Their ‘use' had clearly expanded because of the race track, and as a result of that, it nudged them into another category,” Jansen said.

So for the past few months, the commission has been deliberating on the permit and what kinds of limitations to impose with it.

Most people who came forward were willing to compromise - let the fair have its race track, but limit the events to the state fair time frame.

&#8220I used to live next to Capitol Speedway in Willow,” said Nick Cassara, a Palmer resident, who testified. &#8220But they were there before we were there.”

He went on to explain that now he owns a house that is three miles from the fairgrounds.

&#8220When we bought our house, we knew nothing about the race track,” he said. &#8220We purposely chose a place away from race tracks, and now we have to deal with this. If we are going to have racing in Palmer they need to conduct it in a way that it does not affect the thousands of people who live around the race track.

&#8220I like the fair,” Cassara said. &#8220But they need to be good neighbors and good citizens.”

Joe Lawton, general manager at the Alaska State Fair, had a different assessment of the pending conditional-use permit.

&#8220Without a conditional-use permit, we are out of compliance with a lot of things,” Lawton said. &#8220Concerts, fireworks and animals - according to the city, we need a permit for all these things. After everything is said and done, exactly how much of a fair will we have?”

Everyone pretty much got what they wanted. The fair got its conditional-use permit with traditional events like animal husbandry and amusement rides to continue indefinitely without limitations. But with respect to motorized sporting events and outdoor concerts, the conditional-use permit was limited to one year in duration, and will be up for renewal after the fair can prove it can hold such events without &#8220preventing harm to the public health, safety, convenience and comfort of the surrounding neighborhood.”

&#8220I think we did the right thing by limiting the racing to the fair,” said Mike Madar, commissioner. &#8220Now the fair has to prove that they can do races without too much disturbance to the surrounding community.”

Many in the audience were nodding their heads in agreement.

&#8220Tonight was a great example of freedom and democracy,” said Kevin Brown, commissioner. &#8220The lifeblood of democracy is citizen participation, and we saw a lot of that tonight. But we also heard a lot of people here tonight say they think the fair is a bad neighbor,” he said, before directing a comment to fair officials. &#8220I would challenge you for the next year to prove them wrong.”

Contact Sharon G. McBride at 352-2250 or sharon.mcbride@frontiersman.com.