Arlington group opposes track

Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, April 14, 2004

News that local leaders have selected two sites for the proposed NASCAR racetrack has spurred opposition in Arlington’s largest neighborhood, Gleneagle.

Gleneagle’s more than 1,000 upscale golf-course lots are perched on a hill a few miles northeast of the prime track site, which straddles 51st Avenue NE north of Marysville.

A group of residents has formed a committee to oppose building the track there.

Virginia Hatch said she and other residents will be going door-to-door with a petition asking neighbors for support.

Based on an informal show of hands at a recent homeowners’ association meeting, Hatch and Jack Shouman, president of the homeowners’ board, feel confident they will get plenty of signatures.

"We had 200 people there," Hatch said. "There could not have been 10 people who wanted" the track.

Shouman agreed with the count, as well as Hatch’s stance.

"We’re going to do anything we can to stop this thing," Shouman said. "The problem is, a lot of these people making decisions, they don’t live here."

The Gleneagle neighbors worry that noise and traffic from the track would ruin their quality of life.

Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon, whose staff worked with Marysville officials on the proposal, said he plans to address the neighborhood’s concerns directly.

Reardon said the proposal will be made available to the public and put on the county’s Web site, www.co.snohomish.wa.us. Residents also may e-mail questions to Reardon at aaron.reardon@co.snohomish.wa.us.

"We want to have complete transparency and have the information in their hands," Reardon said. "We don’t want any surprises. We want the community to know what’s going on, nothing hidden."

A racetrack actually might have less of an impact than what was planned for the area, Reardon said.

"I believe that once people in the community look at the proposal and understand what that land is currently zoned for, it is obvious the impact of a NASCAR facility is significantly less," he said.

The area’s future zoning is not designated for agriculture. Future development would be some combination of houses, strip malls, large retail stores, industry and lots of parking lots, Reardon said.

The track’s parking, by contrast, would be on grass fields that could be used as temporary athletic fields when the track is not in use, he said.

The noise and traffic would only be for major races, which would occur several times a year, while normal residential and commercial development would be a year-round impact, he said.

Gail Whittington, who lives near the other favored track site south of 164th Street NE in Lakewood, had a hard time believing that. "It seems to me more of an environmental disaster instead of an improvement," she said.

Hatch was not persuaded, either. Reports that some tracks have more than 200 event days a year bother her, even if most of them are not major races.

"They are not being very forthright saying it only runs four times a year," Hatch said. "They don’t build a big track and not use it. It has to be used a lot to pay for it."

Many of her neighbors are worried that the noise would be amplified as it moved up the hill, she said.

Reardon and Marysville officials are planning public meetings to talk with residents. For Hatch, it might take a lot to win their trust.

"An 800-pound gorilla may promise not to eat your bananas, but when it’s said and done, it might still eat your bananas," Hatch said.

Reporter Scott Morris: 425-339-3292 or smorris@heraldnet.com.