By Dianne Giliforte
Get ready Niagara Falls!! Coming soon to your community – NOISE and POLLUTION.
Dick Juloksy owns a farm for race horses near the site for the proposed NASCAR speedway and is opposed to the plan. Photo courtesy of CARS
An application to establish a Motorsports Park at the intersection of Sodom Road and the QEW has been submitted to the Region. If this is not what you envisioned when you moved to your quiet rural abode or the quaint community of Chippawa, then start making your own noise now and make it loud and clear, since some politicians are hard of hearing.
Take a look at the travesty in Fort Erie and be afraid, be very afraid.
In spite of the fact that many of the required studies have not been completed for the Fort Erie project – especially the ‘biggie’ – the amended noise study that the proponents have assured will meet or exceed (Ontario) Ministry of Environment guidelines, the Region voted to approve an Official Plan Amendment to allow the building of a speedway on agricultural lands, calling it a “special policy area”. Special to whom you may ask?
Special to the tax base for the town, region and province perhaps, but not so special to the residents impacted by noise, pollution, increased traffic and decreased property values. I understand a special Regional meeting to discuss the application for the Motorsports Park is taking place at Niagara Falls City Hall on March 24th.
I urge Niagara Falls residents to attend this meeting and be aware of the following:
· Your proposed track will NOT be limited to a few events. The road course will be rented to private groups every nice day of the year for car clubs, motorbikes, vehicle testing and the like; for those who come to experience a race-like atmosphere where they can speed around a track without mufflers on their vehicles. In effect, you will be constantly robbed of the quiet enjoyment of your property, and forced to live with the pollution that results.
· Working in your local favour perhaps, is the fact that (Niagara Falls) Mayor Ted Salci has backed the Fort Erie proposal with great enthusiasm. He knows Niagara Falls will financially benefit from those who stray from the Fort Erie site for a day of non track events. In this way, Niagara Falls enjoys the tourist dollars and his electoral enjoys none of the noise and negative impacts of a speedway in their immediate community. But is the type of development we want ANYWHERE in the Niagara Region?
· A community group has been objecting to the speedway proposal for the Fort Erie location; which encompasses agricultural and Provincially Significant Wetland acreage, since it became public knowledge a few months ago. They have compiled a great deal of information on all aspects of such a project, which is available on http://www.forteriecars.org. Please take the time to visit this website! ACT NOW and SPEAK OUT! Dianne Giliforte is a Fort Erie resident and member of Citizens Against Racing Speedway (CARS).
(click on www.niagaraatlarge.com for Niagara At Large and more news and commentary on matters of interest and concern to residents in our binational Niagara region.)
Niagara At Large 
Thanks for this appeal. Those who are opposed to this monster at Sodom Road should follow this article’s advice and come out to the meeting on March 24th. For more details it is a the Niagara Falls City Council Chambers at 6:30 pm
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Thank you for your attention to these extremely important issues, Doug. There are a great many of us who read your articles to get fair and honest reporting. Please keep spreading the word.
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The proposal of a motor speedway in Fort Erie is a major mistake. The noise from a speedway would be overwhelming throughout our town. Our summers are short and I cannot imagine sitting outside relaxing on my deck listening to the loud noise of cars racing around a track (very distracting). How about the chemicals I would be breathing not only from the racecars but the cars idling before the race. How about the water I would be drinking. The thousands of vehicles that aren’t racing would be parked on the grass and their chemicals would be dripping into the ground water. How about our safety, property values, the crowded roads, garbage/sewer capacity, our taxes, etc. etc. etc.
Sure, it sounds great jobs, jobs PART time jobs at minimum wage. How would a weekly wage support a family? Also, are the people of Fort Erie promised employment at this speedway? I surely would not like to visualize my son/daughter working at a motor speedway. I would be concerned they would have health issues. Who will really benefit from this speedway, the residents?? Think about it. We are the residents of the Town of Fort Erie and we have rights, our right is to speak against this speedway. People of Fort Erie, please be concerned and speak out as this speedway could change our town forever
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At a time when our elected officials are asking us to CONSERVE energy, and at a time when gasoline is hovering at a dollar a litre, do we really need a facility that is designed to WASTE energy for strictly entertainment purposes?
This is also a time when clear-cutting and destroying eco-sensitive habitats is supposed to be frowned upon and discouraged, not promoted for something so unnecessary as CAR RACING.
Destroy a forest so we can watch someone drive around and around in circles at very fast speeds?
Sounds like a waste to me. A waste of nature, a waste of gasoline and a waste of a life.
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I will admit that I don’t live in Fort Erie, but I think it would be a major economic blunder to walk away from an opportunity like this.
In a region that has thousands jobless with near double-digit unemployment, a project like this would infuse millions into the economy and create thousands of jobs.
I understand there will be loud noises, but do we want all of our talented recent graduates leaving the area because there is no work? Maybe you’d perfer everyone in the region to be making $12 an hour and the local call centre – and that’s the people lucky enough to find employment.
People in Fort Erie cry about the slots and horse races not doing well, the lack of income from the non-existant bingos and the recent layoffs at eurocopter. Heaven forbid an opportunity want to reside in your city that would be a source of income.
I, for one, am proud of the Region’s leadership on this issue. If it was up to a few short-sighted people who like to “sit on their decks”.
Everyone against this issue seems to ignore the fact that the annual tax income from this project will be $34 million. Projects like this will help offset future tax increases on both the municipal and regional levels.
I guess everyone here would be pleased with a seven or eight per cent tax increase to pay for wastewater, roads and EMS.
Any by the way, this article has nothing to do with “fair and honest” reporting. This is at best an opinion piece and at worst a poorly written, poorly researched blog post.
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John, if the slots and horse races (which I’m ethically opposed to) are not doing well, what guarantee is there that a car racing track will do well?
And I think it’s naive to believe that this race track will somehow lower municipal taxes. Has that ever happened before?
Maybe if the race track was going to be built across the street from your house, you’d feel differently.
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If you don’t live in this town, then you have no idea what a motor speedway would be like in your back yard.
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