Planning Commission to re-visit racetrack use permit

BUTTE — Opponents of a racetrack-adjacent gravel pit will have another chance to make their case to the Borough Planning Commission.

After a letter from Alaska Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Mark Meyers surfaced about the intended use for a 27-acre parcel of land adjacent to the raceway, planning commissioners voted 4-2 to restart the public hearing process.

Earl and Karen Lackey, the owners of the Alaska Raceway Park, have applied for a conditional use permit to turn a 27-acre parcel of land near Sullivan Avenue and Raceway into a gravel pit and a location for a temporary asphalt-making facility. The Lackeys eventually intend to construct an oval raceway track at the Park, which currently houses only a straight-line drag strip.

“We would just like to have the same consideration that other people have had with the personal property that they own for being able to extract gravel for what they do,” Earl Lackey said.

Opposition to the pit focused on potential adverse effects to the surrounding water. Bodenburg Creek flows nearby, and several nearby properties have groundwater wells. Local residents say they’d come to rely on the property to serve as a buffer against the high-decibel tumult spilling over from the Park.

“If this is approved, the quality of life, our health and the worth of our properties, my property and my neighbors could be drastically affected in a very negative way,” resident Jane Campbell told commissioners. “When the jet cars go whomp-whomp-whomp, the windows in my home shake. If over 16 acres of sound barrier is removed, it’s frightening how loud and possibly destructive the effects may be.”

The letter from Myers refers to an administrative decision about the adjacent 156-acre raceway property, which requires that a buffer strip be purchased.

“It also appears that the property owner did, in fact, pursue the purchase of this 27-acre parcel from the borough and it has functioned as a ‘vegetated buffer strip’ since being acquired, until today, despite the absence of a stipulation or covenant requiring this use,” Myers wrote.

“Despite the absence of formal restrictions to this effect in the documents that effectuated the conveyance, this remains the intent of the Department in approving the conveyance,” the letter continues.

Because Myers’ letter constitutes substantive new material not included in the original staff report, commissioners decided to re-hear the application for the conditional-use permit.

Some who testified, like Butte resident Sid McCausland, said the correspondence from the DNR created at least the appearance of impropriety.

“It’s extremely unfortunate that staff didn’t bother to tell you that when this went before the community council in 2001, one of the clear stipulations was that this be maintained as a buffer in perpetuity between the racetrack and the Old Glenn Highway,” McCausland said. “I don’t know why that’s not in your staff report, because it seems to me that somebody in the borough decided to deed this land without paying any attention to what the recommendations were from the state and from the community council. It’s a pretty serious kind of slip. It’s the kind of thing you would do for a friend, but you wouldn’t do if you were trying to play by the rules.”

Following the close of public testimony, which drew about 20 local residents to testify, a protracted procedure debate ensued over whether tabling a motion based on a closed hearing was possible, and whether public notice requirements could be met in time to hold the public hearing at the following meeting.

Two motions later, an additional public hearing was scheduled for introduction June 1, with a hearing June 15.

Contact Brian O’Connor at 352-2269, brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com, or on Twitter @reporterbriano.