NASCAR foes ready to sue

MARYSVILLE – Opponents of a proposed NASCAR racetrack here have hired a lawyer and plan to raise two legal problems they think are deal-killers.

The track, they say, would be too close to the Arlington Airport, and would fill in protected wetlands.

Track supporters say those concerns are overblown and can be addressed with a properly designed project.

The opponents outlined their strategy at a special legislative hearing convened by Lt. Gov. Brad Owen on Wednesday at Marysville-Pilchuck High School.

“We are emotionally and financially prepared for a long-haul opposition,” said Ernie Fosse of Snohomish County Citizens Against a Racetrack at the hearing.

The hearing was designed to give lawmakers an early look at the track project and related issues they are expected to face when the Legislature’s regular session convenes in January.

International Speedway Corp., the city of Marysville and Snohomish County have proposed a 75,000-seat NASCAR track on 850 acres in north Marysville. The project would require $200 million in state money, plus $85 million in transportation improvements. ISC has offered to pay $50 million.

In an interview Thursday, Bruce Angell of the Arlington Airport Alliance reiterated his testimony on why he thinks the track site would violate the law.

State law requires local governments to plan dense developments and particularly large concentrations of people a minimum distance from airports. The rules are mostly about safety.

“The chance of an accident is certainly not great, but if you have 80,000 people concentrated near the airport, the consequences could be catastrophic,” Angell said.

A safety zone, or airport influence area, is drawn around airports. Local zoning codes are supposed to steer churches, schools or other high-density development outside that area.

The problem with the 850-acre track site is it’s too close, Angell said.

“There’s no way to get it out of the airport influence area,” Angell said.

Public officials who support the track could not be reached Thursday because of the Veterans Day holiday. In the past, they have said they were optimistic that the rules are flexible enough to work with the track.

The legal issue, Angell said, is that while Arlington has kept density away from the airport, Marysville and Snohomish County plans allow it. A growth management hearings board would likely have to resolve the dispute, he said.

Jeff Eustus, a Seattle attorney hired by SCAR, talked about the other silver bullet that opponents are counting on, state wetlands law.

“The regulations say (a builder) cannot fill a wetland for a nonaquatic use, and a racetrack is a nonaquatic use,” Eustus said.

The law has an exception for projects that have no feasible alternatives, he said. But the track developer, ISC, controls 12 other tracks in the nation and does not have to locate in Marysville, he said.

Eustus said a consultant hired by Marysville in 2001 found that 599 acres in north Marysville – all within the 850-acre track site – are wetlands.

Daryl Williams, environmental liaison with the Tulalip Tribes, contested that figure in a follow-up interview after his testimony at Wednesday’s hearing.

“Legally, there’s still a question about how much of that is still recognized by the state and federal government as wetlands,” Williams said. “We haven’t really done a survey of research to be able to decide that issue.”

While much of the site is indeed wet, most of it no longer functions ecologically as a wetland because of decades of alterations by farming, he said.

“There just isn’t the habitat there anymore for fish and wildlife resources,” Williams said.

The biggest functioning wetland on the track site is probably only 10 acres, he said. One smaller wetland exists as well.

Any legal challenges will have to wait until an official project is submitted to state and local governments, which could happen in early 2005. The current proposal is still in the conceptual stage.

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