Tonight (Monday) at 8PM, the New Kent County Board of Supervisors passed by 3 to 2 the proposal to build Dragonsridge Motorsports Park! If you live near Richmond, WWBT/Channel 12 will be reporting on the vote at 11PM.
There was initially a concern that the Board might pass it but require a start time of noon on Sunday, but the proposal passed with no restrictions. The developers are celebrating tonight and so are we!!!!
If I get any more news about the groundbreaking and the potential opening date, I will let you know!
Laura Cobetto, NASA-VA Registrar


Modified by NASAlaura at 3:06 AM 6/8/2004

 

Sweet

 

sweet, i can' wait!

 

Great news. Let's hope the track layout goes well and the locals support us.

 

Awesome!

 

From the Richmond Times-Dispatch...

New Kent Supervisors Approve Motor-Sports Park

Richmond Times-Dispatch Jun 8, 2004


New Kent County supervisors gave the green light for a 616-acre motor-sports park in the eastern part of the county with a 3-2 vote Monday night.

Plans for DragonsRidge Motorsports Park include a 2.95-mile track for sports cars and motorcycles and a 1-mile track for go-karts that could be used year-round for private and public events within 2 miles of the Interstate 64 and state Route 33 interchange.

The developer, Dominion Land Ventures LLC of Hampton, also proposes retail, office and resort development, including a conference center, museum, racing school and miniature golf as part of the seven-phase, $54 million development. The track could open as early as March 2006, Jeff Booth, general manager of DragonsRidge, said.

After the board's decision, about 100 people left the supervisors' meeting room in protest. Opponents, dozens of whom spoke at a public hearing June 1, said the tracks would ruin life for residents of the rural area with nonstop noise and traffic.

 

wooohaaa!

 

A new "home track" for NASA-VA?

 

Awesome, another track a little closer to home.

 

They had better follow their agreement to a "t" and appease the locals as much as possible, or they will end up like Arizona Motorsports Park, shut down.

Brian

 

Good news!

 

Good stuff...

 

x 1000

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">said the tracks would ruin life for residents of the rural area with nonstop noise and traffic.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

I guess if you call ruining one of the poorest counties in the state with all that influx of money, then, yeah, I guess it'll be ruinied

Morons.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MaddMatt &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I guess if you call ruining one of the poorest counties in the state with all that influx of money, then, yeah, I guess it'll be ruinied

Morons.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Heh, never underestimate people's crabbiness when something threatens to change their way of life, even if it's for the better.

But let's hope they're just a vocal minority.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MaddMatt &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

I guess if you call ruining one of the poorest counties in the state with all that influx of money, then, yeah, I guess it'll be ruinied

Morons.</TD></TR></TABLE>

While I'm excited about the progress on this track let's be fair in our judgement. If someone wanted to put a race track a mile or two from your house <U>and you weren't a racing nut</U>, you wouldn't be excited about it either. I still say f them though.

 

They dont have to be racing nuts to like <FONT COLOR="green">$$$</FONT>

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by .RJ &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">They dont have to be racing nuts to like <FONT COLOR="green">$$$</FONT></TD></TR></TABLE>

Not everyone cares about money... some people are perfectly happy working that $22k/year job and living a slow, peaceful lifestyle.

 

Gotta agree with you there, Apocalypse. While money is good for a community, not everyone wants it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by sscguy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Gotta agree with you there, Apocalypse. While money is good for a community, not everyone wants it.</TD></TR></TABLE>
I'm just wondering how there is going to be "nonstop noise and traffic," unless Dragonsridge plans on holding the worlds longest enduro race! &lt;shaking head&gt;

How small is the county, land-wise, that they think it's going to have that much of an impact? Maybe part of the problem is that they believe a roadrace track is going to attract crowds like a NASCAR oval (100K plus at Dover last weekend), so once they realize that the crowds at a motorsports "park" (like VIR) are much smaller, they will calm down?

Karen

 

I doubt it... think about the jackasses that speed in and out of Summit. When people think of racing and motorsports parks, unfortunately THAT'S what they think of. No amount of sound-absorbant planning and law-abiding drivers are going to make up for that relatively small margin of jackassery. Just ask Bill Scott if the natives are okay with the "relatively small" crowds.

 

This is great news.. I was concerned that It really wouldnt happen..

 

I grew up about 5 miles from that area. Over 90% of the people would love to have that place in that area.

 

Their site is down, Does anyone have a map of the area? Ive seen it posted before I believe. My boss lives about 5 min from the area.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by AKADriver &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Heh, never underestimate people's crabbiness when something threatens to change their way of life, even if it's for the better.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Or if there is an underlying agenda. When Putnam Park was built in very rural Indiana, there was a real major legal battle that cost a lot of money. Seems an area minister was running for local office and decided to make his notoriety by taking on the evil doers building a racetrack. He whipped up the locals with statements like "you'll have bikers urinating in your bushes", etc. It was a major battle. The thing tied up in court long enough that the election passed and the minister was defeated and disappeared.

From there it was just the local landowners with less leadership. When it became obvious that the track was going to win the case, the locals realized that the judge would require them to pay the track's legal bills which would have essentially bankrupted most of the private citizens possibly requiring to sell their property so instead they settled with amicable noise and time limitations and notes in the local property owner's deeds that they could not sue the track for the same thing for some extended period of time. A decade later, Putnam Park is a very nice, tidy facility that brings regular business, employment, and taxes and no commotion to a still sleepy area.

In 13 years of going there, I have never pissed in anyone's bushes.