NJMP, TrackRacket and the Millville City Commission

27 July 2009 @ 16:07 | Posted in » New Jersey, Politics

I am like the man this guy complains about.

I live about 1.75 miles (or closer) to the Millville Motorsports Park. There is nothing obstructing the noise as all that lies between us is an air strip. I like auto racing. I am intrigued by this track and not only the economic benefits it can offer this area, but the type of racing it provides.

But there is a problem. The track creates a great deal of noise. It is unbearable at times. When racing is going on, opening windows is not an option; windows must be shut, thus air conditioning must be used. For a city that is getting ready to spend lots of tax dollars promoting itself as a green city, that should not be forgotten.

I don’t want the racetrack to be closed. That is like shooting an ant with a rifle.

But something needs to be done.

Doing something is going to come out of discussing the issue. The problem is there isn’t any discussion. The reason there isn’t a discussion going on is simple: NJMP isn’t doing anything illegal. It’s as simple as that. It is not in their interests to engage in the pleas to discuss the noise.

A community group was formed to collate the complaints. TrackRacket‘s founder Michelle Post has done much to amplify the discussion. It has fallen on deaf ears. I sympathize with her frustration. But TrackRacket needs to change tactics. It has quickly been molded into a negative group, much as a watchdog group, Millville First, has allowed these same folks to control the public perception of their group.

The issue needs to be re-framed so guys wearing belts and suspenders can’t get before the local Commission and make a public threat:

If I had been up there that night [last City Commission meeting, 7 July 2009], that man would have got out of here but he wouldn’t gone home.

Presently, noise is heard, TrackRacket complains, the defenders come out and call the complainers whiners, and the City Commission sits on its thumbs and says nothing is wrong.

Millville’s noise ordinance is set for 80db for a 20-minute continuous event. NJMP isn’t operating in the 80db range. According to Commissioner Finch, it operates around 60db so there is no infraction.

That’s fine, but who set the 80db level? Millville’s City Commission. If what we hear at our house is 60db, then what we know is that 60db is too high. Instead of complaining about NJMP, TrackRacket should be applying pressure on the City Commission to reduce the noise threshold.

Some will counter that New Jersey’s laws do not legislate race tracks. That is a misnomer in this discussion. Obviously Millville’s government felt a need to restrict the noise, but it used too high of a number. It needs to adjust its noise ordinance. The elected officials are the ones who created the problem, they need to be held accountable.

Even if the argument is extended out to its absurd conclusion involving a lawsuit that states Millville had no authority to set a noise restriction, at least the public would then have the evidence it needs to hold those who passed such a useless ordinance accountable. Surely, that would be valuable information.

Until pressure is applied to them, reports that say the government has never recorded sounds at 80db are going to be filed and this issue will never be resolved.

TrackRacket, you need to change your tactics, perhaps dissolve the formal group, get rid of the web site, and show up en masse meeting after meeting and speak to changing the level of the noise threshold. Studies aren’t needed. Recordings aren’t either. If the public wants something, it can get it with the correct approach. Yelling to no one right now is producing nothing.

Until then, your opponents own the conversation.