Motor speedway's first lap approved after public meeting

Posted By Kris Dube

Posted 5 months ago

It's a well-known fact that auto-racing fans like a big crowd, and that's exactly what could be found at Town Hall on Tuesday for a public meeting about the Canadian Motor Speedway.

Emirates Consulting, a United Arab Emirates based-company has proposed to build a high-speed racing facility with plans to seat 65,000 with the potential of seating 100,000 on 821 acres of land southwest of the Bowen Road QEW interchange. McMaster University has also attached its name with plans for a research and development centre at the site.

Currently the land is designated as an agricultural, hazard and extractive industrial zone which requires a by-law amendment from both the Town of Fort Erie and the Niagara Region. After the meeting, council unanimously supported a staff report for informational purposes, essentially moving one of many steps ahead toward final approval.

Before any discussion from the mayor and council, the public was given an opportunity to either give comments of support for the project or to speak against it. Ten individuals stepped up to the podium from both sides of the argument.

First to speak were people in favour of the speedway. Bob Barnes, a relatively new resident to Fort Erie who moved here from Dunnville said this is exactly what he needs.

"This is nothing but positive growth. We can't turn this down," he said.

Ted Renshaw, a 2007 Fort Erie Sports Wall of Fame inductee for his career in auto-racing also spoke at the meeting, saying that Fort Erie will be a place people will travel to from all over when events are being held at the speedway.

"The population just grows and the impact is unbelievable," he said using other municipalities in North America with similar facilities as examples.

Arlene White, executive director of the bi-national tourism alliance said not only will it be a major tourist draw, but is a facility towns and cities across the continent dream of.

"This project would be the envy of communities across North America," she said.

Jim Puhl is the former owner of Humberstone Speedway in Port Colborne. Knowing most of the project's opposition is concerned about noise in surrounding neighbourhoods, he said it is something people will have to become tolerant of.

"It's not like it continues all day…it's only for a few hours," he said.

Kevin Palachik, traveled all the way from Stouffville, a small town northeast of Toronto speak in support of the project as a lifetime auto-racing fan. He said he has visited several speedways across North America and has seen the economic impact they have on small towns.

"The amount of money a project like this can bring into this town is almost unfathomable," he said.

Sandra Vant spoke in opposition of the project, making several points about its environmental impact. If the project is approved, Miller Creek will have to be re-aligned to address storm water and sewage servicing issues, which is something Vant cannot support.

"The re-alignment of the Miller Creek will result in altering, disrupting and destroying the fish habitat," she said.

Richard Jukosky owns a farm on Gilmore Road in Ridgeway, claiming his property is often visited by uninvited guests who are interested in getting a closer look at his horses. If the speedway is built, he expects the quiet part of town he lives in to be a hotbed of activity and unwanted noise.

"The people that come to these events don't come for a long time…they come here for a good time," he said.

Azhar Mohammad, executive director of Emirates Consulting said after the meeting that people's concerns are legitimate, but they need to be assured that "the best of the best" has been assembled for the planning and construction of the facility, which is expected to be complete by 2011 if everything goes as it is planned.

"All our reports have been highly sophisticated and detailed to mitigate those concerns," he said after the public meeting.

He understands traffic, air quality and noise are the three primary issues when it comes to concerned residents, but those three things have been heavily addressed in the planning so far and will continue to be until it is approved.

"We have worked over the last two years with 85 different Ontario-based engineers that have done nothing but study the modalities of these kinds of speedways," said Mohammad.

In the proposal, there are also plans for a water park, retail outlets, restaurants and many other features.