i remember them not being allowed to drift there anymore because some cunt called and complained so much.
someone find her address :excited
This is exactly why they are having issues. As if noise is a problem right next to a FUCKING AIRPORT.
Help save this place!
There can be several million signatures, and the town more likely than not will still say no.
Signed.
better to take 18 seconds to sign it than sit around putzin :lol
FML
Signed
I am glad to see this jump up as much as it has already I was only number 100 to sign this as of yesterday evening after Mafdark posted this now I am glad to see 655 people have signed this, I really hope this makes it to over 10,000+
I am not speaking against the reopening of the facility, just my objective 2 cents.
I think the owner needs to find out if the property is actually zoned to allow for such facility or not. I cannot imagine anyone buying a piece of property without going through the legal process to make sure it can be use as intended or existing structures is legit.
In terms of the airport, does anyone even know the scale of it? There is huge difference between JFK and county airfield. Zoning and environmental law pertains to all kinds of pollution including noise is HUGE deal in Canada. I can see if the zoning is incorrect, other people’s property could be close to the property enough to create a problem. As much as I love racing, I would not want to live in a house where I can hear tire screeching from 8am to 5pm every day.
If the zoning is correct and the track have every right to be there, then there should be no issue to begin with. If it is not, either the owner can convince to have the property rezoned, which is highly unlikely for the purpose intended; or come to a comprised with the city.
We can sign as much petition as we want, however I personally doubt the effectiveness of it legalwise. The petition did not even address how any of the issues can/will be resolved, but simply stating the facility promotes the interest and safety of the hobby. I doubt anyone, especially the people who live around there that files the complain, care about racing. At least, the petition should say how keeping the facility open promotes people to spend money in their area and in turn helping local business with more sales, lowering their property taxes and more funding to the city for improvements.
There is a lot more going on than what is in the first post in here. Does base everything on just that and the other conclusions you have jumped to.
Autodrome appeal will take 10 days
Ontario Municipal Board will hear details of five-year battle
Posted By KAREN BEST, CHRONICLE STAFF WRITER
Posted 7 months ago
An attempt to overturn a rejected zoning application for the Dunnville Autodrome will take up to 10 days.
Starting June 9, lawyer Brian Duxbury will launch his quest to ask the Ontario Municipal Board to accept the zoning change requested by Autodrome operator Lee Abrahamson.
On the other side of the room at the Jan. 27 preliminary hearing, lawyer Greg Hedley will offer arguments on behalf of Dunnville Community Association Respecting our Environment (CARES). He and lawyer Randolph Smith are co-counsels for the group.
Founded in 2005, the community group opposes use of the road course built at the Dunnville Airport in 2004. At least 20 witnesses will be called to offer evidence on behalf of Dunnville CARES, said chair Bill Strong, who sat beside Hedley at the preliminary hearing.
A comparable number of witnesses are anticipated from the autodrome. Both parties will call their own noise experts to the stand.
Lawyer Sara Premi, who is representing Haldimand County, attended the Jan. 27 OMB hearing with county senior planner Mike Evers.
The OMB is an arm’s length quasi-judicial body that hears business and resident appeals of municipal council planning decisions.
Approved by OMB member R. S. J. Stefanko, hearings are set for June 9 to 12; June 16, 18 and 19; and June 22 and 23. All will be held in the Haldimand County Cayuga administration building. Most of the proceedings will take place in the lower level committee room.
For almost five years, the Dunnville Autodrome, which promoted itself as a job-making and tourist attraction facility, has been at the centre of controversy.
In 2004, concerns were raised when the 2.2 kilometre course opened. Previous to construction and after use began, county officials notified Abrahamson that the use of the course was not permitted under an existing Town of Dunnville bylaw.
On the other hand, Abrahamson, who has invested close to $1 million in the venture, secured several legal opinions saying the use did comply with the bylaw. In the fall of 2004, the county set aside its pursuit of an injunction after Abrahamson initiated a zoning application. Over the years, the application was amended.
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He was seeking approvals for a media production facility, technology centre, trade school and outdoor proving ground for research and development.
Last June, county council determined noise study requirements were not met and the use did not comply with the bylaw. By August, their decision was appealed to the board.
At the Jan. 27 preliminary hearing, participants, who will address the board in June, were registered. Donald Blunt will speak on behalf of the Beckley Beach Cottagers Association which represents owners of 65 cottages on the east side of Port Maitland.
Representing Toronto Motorsports Park, Cindy Campbell told the board that a TMP spokesperson will also speak to the board. Later she said road course operation without a racing licence was the issue of concern. Presently she was working on licence renewal for the TMP tracks.
Autodrome manager Jon Kuiper said he will speak as a supporter on behalf of the autodrome as will Steve Strong and Marion Kuiper.
Duxbury questioned some issues raised by Dunnville CARES including incompatibility of autodrome use with existing uses and air plane safety. Hedley referenced an Ontario Planning Act section that addressed health and safety and a provincial planning policy on location of development to avoid land use conflicts.
Continuing, Hedley insisted the board examine the safety of having a track right beside a runway used by 100 Maylan Aviation pilots-in-training.
Stefanko accepted these issues for the hearing but questioned the property value impact issue.
In response, Hedley said Maitland Shores Marina and RV Resort is closest to the road course and has 250 park model trailer sites and 360 boat slips. Owner Roger O’Hara has invested over $2 million in underground services and has lost sales when potential buyers heard the track noise, he added. The issue was accepted.
After the preliminary hearing, Jon Kuiper said, “I’m glad to see we’re making progress and have a date picked.”
“Hopefully this matter will be straightened out in June,” he added.
there, more info.
and this:
http://www.nyspeed.com/savedunnville/DUNNVILLE-PR-090914.pdf
and this:
Dunnville Autodrome closed for business
Posted By CATHY PELLETIER , CHRONICLE STAFF WRITER
Posted 5 hours ago
After five years of operation and months of heated debate, drivers have taken their last lap at The Dunnville Autodrome.
The Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) passed a verdict last week, rendering its decision that “all racetrack use and activity must be stopped immediately.”
Since 2004, The Autodrome has leased a part of an airport hangar at the Dunnville Airport on Port Maitland Road and ran various automotive and car racing related activities, including a 2.2-km long outdoor Formula track constructed on part of an unused runway.
The OMB ruled Aug. 17 that the Autodrome’s activities do not constitute a legal use under the present zoning bylaw and that it would not constitute good land use planning to legalize them, as they are incompatible with the surrounding land uses.
“This has been the position of Dunnville CARES right from 2004 when the Autodrome commenced operations,” said Bill Strong, Chairman of the group of nearby residents that formed to oppose the track, largely because of what members consider excessive noise. “We are ecstatic. We feel it was the right decision. It took us five very long years. The noise is the main disruption,” said Strong. “It was impacting everyone’s lives in the area, and it was also affecting tourism at Maitland Shores Trailer Park and cottagers at Beckley Beach.” Strong said there are 50 or 60 officially registered members of Dunnville CARES, but that upwards of 250 area supporters -mainly residing along Port Maitland Road -have also donated funds to the organization over the years.
A total of 10 residents spoke at the OMB hearings on the group’s behalf, and Strong said they also brought forth “a sound expert witness, a planner, and an airport safety expert, because we felt there was an issue with the planes and skydivers landing close to the track.”
Before all the controversy erupted, Autodrome employee Jon Kuiper recalls how the past five years of his life coincided with the lifespan of the track.
On his last day as a student at Dunnville Secondary, he led the Lamborghini and Lotus that had wheeled into town looking for the track at the Dunnville Airport. “So I hopped in my old $300 Jeta and brought them to the Autodrome,” said Kuiper, and he’s been there ever since.
“For the last five years, I’ve learned enough just from being at the Autodrome to be a professional driving coach. I never knew anything about the Autodrome until my last day of high school and went back on the weekend to check out the Formula cars, and met Lee (Abrahamson), the owner, who was helping out. The mechanic needed to fix a car and I’m a mechanic so Lee said, ‘Why don’t you help out?’ I worked my way up to the top.”
Besides producing the Autodrome’s website, along with in-car training videos and promotional flyers, Kuiper said he’s opened the gates at 6 a. m., “swept the track, greeted guests, taught them to drive, and cooked them lunch on the barbecue” while employed there. He’s also had the opportunity to introduce the track to 90210 actor Jason Priestley and other celebrities who share a love of driving.
“This is a good track for training,” he said, adding that unlike other tracks, the Autodrome has no cement walls or other potentially dangerous barriers for drivers to hit. “It’s a training and research and development track. We never had any races out here. That was never the plan.”
According to Kuiper, “The Internet is exploding” with correspondence from Autodrome supporters, voicing their disappointment about the track’s closure. He hosted a farewell party this past Sunday night as the Autodrome’s final event.
PLEASE SEE “OMB HEARING” The OMB report stated, “The proponent claimed it was their understanding from early discussions with municipal officials that the Autodrome business was desirable by Haldimand as a recreation facility that would draw business and investment to the municipality. The Autodrome concluded, in their own due diligence and by their own advisors, that their uses would be allowed under the current municipal planning instruments and chose to proceed with a business decision sometime in 2003, to lease space at the Dunnville Airport and to construct the track. Further, it was the proponent’s opinion that the Autodrome is not a racetrack per se, because ‘wheel to wheel’ competitive racing is not permitted, and as such, Ministry of the Environment (MOE) noise guidelines do not (or should not) apply to this facility.”
And while there was extensive debate about whether or not the Autodrome was, in fact, a racetrack, the OMB concluded that residents had a case in their claim that when several cars used the track at high speeds at the same time, it produced excessive noise.
The report further stated that when Autodrome owners were “made aware of the municipality’s concerns about zoning compliance in 2003 and 2004 and noise complaints, they submitted the required applications, including a series of noise studies, and have been working cooperatively with Haldimand. They have since also instituted a two-step control measure to screen cars for noise before entering the track and they now require mufflers on all cars.”
After a lengthy process and numerous discussions and noise studies, Haldimand held a statutory public meeting in June 2008. Council refused the Autodrome’s applications to amend the Town’s Official Plan to redesignate land to add a site-specific policy that would allow additional uses on the subject lands and amend the zoning bylaw to rezone airport lands for various “entertainment uses” and special events.
The case was referred to the OMB, and consisted of 13 hearing days and two evening sessions set aside for the community to express their views.
Three land use planners spoke, with one providing evidence in support of the Autodrome and two in opposition. Haldimand’s CBO and Zoning Examiner, Ed Vanderwindt, provided evidence in opposition, and real estate appraiser Ben Lansink spoke on behalf of Dunnville CARES, predicting that property values could be negatively impacted “when one is located near intrusive land uses.”
Four acoustical and noise experts made presentations; two on behalf of the Autodrome, one on behalf of Dunnville CARES, and H. Gidamy of S. S. Wilson Associates reviewed and critiqued the studies as Haldimand’s peer reviewer.
Owner Lee Abrahamson and two Autodrome employees -Steve Strong and Marian Kuiper, who also live in the area – voiced their support at the hearing.
Neale Armstrong, on behalf of Toronto Motorsports Park and D. Blunt, on behalf of Beckley Beach Cottagers Corporation, spoke in opposition of the Autodrome.
“It kind of feels like your best friend died,” said Steve Strong, Community Relations Officer for the Autodrome. Surprised by the OMB’s total refusal to allow track operations, “We thought they might restrict us a bit in the way we operate,” he said. “Until you get out in a car and see how fun it is, you have no idea what we’re about. There are still lots of people who don’t know it’s there, but it ran for five years and one month. They don’t really understand what it is. It’s a lot of fun. We worked pretty hard and hoped things would work out. It’s one more thing that didn’t work out in Dunnville. It was exciting to have something, especially for the young people.”
“The Board does not stand in the way of progress and economic development of a municipality,” reads the OMB report, "… Similarly, the Board does not wish to interfere with the interests of the business community, including the car ‘testing,’ sales and entertainment sectors, including racing enthusiasts, many of whom frequent this facility.
However, the Board can not readily consider approval of a highly disruptive land use or activity and an operation that does not seem to have paid an adequate amount of attention to the concerns and well-being of the community and has operated over the past five years in what has been suggested to be outside the municipality’s bylaws and other regulations."
Well, all I can say is I am sorry that the owner pump a million altering the use of abandoned airfield to a race track without filing for rezoning before the conversion and without county and town approval; and their attempt to apply for rezoning after they’ve build the track and has been using it for five years got rejected.
What you’ve posted looks final, so does all this petition going to OMB?
Remember my man anything is possible, There is obviously more to this story, I had to laugh when part of the fight against the track that was posted said " It was impacting the lives of everyone in the area,(this is were the FAIL starts) and it was also effecting tourism at Maitland Shores TRAILER PARK", I dunno about you BUT if I am going on Vacation its NOT going to be in a trailer park…
There are 834 Signatures to date
signed
1820 members on shift and only like 20 tops have signed…seen a few people have signed jsut havent posted it
ya know the world aint perfect and shit BUT when a person needs help they would want people to be there for them, BUT if someone else needs help its like pulling teeth to get it even as something simple as a signature FUCKING SAD PEOPLE FUCKING SAD
there is a well organized legal appeal formed. I understand what your trying to say and legally your right. However if there is a chance that an appeal might allow them to reopen and a chance that signing the petition will help their efforts then I am going to get as many people to sign it as possible.
In my opinion, in the US (can’t speak for north of the border) to find an area already zoned for a race track will be impossible without a budget larger than most of us could imagine. To try and use a “special event” zoning or something similar seems perfectly reasonable to me. Zoning can come over time, but its not going to be zoned for race track use if there is not one there already.
Signed.
Lets not let this thread die out here !!
Just signed (late, i know) but there were 1081 signatures to date.
signed