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County paves way for racing

• After weeks of often divisive wrangling, the Dougherty County Commission paves the way for racing a a local speedway.

Carlton Fletcher

ALBANY — Ladies and gentlemen ... start your engines.

The Dougherty County Commission, after weeks of weighing the commercial benefits of racing at the Albany Motor Speedway against noise complaints registered by residents in the Radium Springs neighborhood, waved the green flag Wednesday that opened the door for conditional racing of all vehicles at the track.

After clearing up the wording of businessman Bob Brooks’ proposed conditions for allowing “all motorized race vehicles” at the venue, the commission voted to grant current speedway owner Bill Farnsworth’s request to rezone the property and allow racing of vehicles other than Legends cars at the 1303 Williamsburg Road speedway.

Farnsworth, who had purchased the track and dubbed it the Suicide Circle Speedway as a promotional tie-in with his Beef O’Brady’s restaurants, said Wednesday evening he was working with Brooks to clear the way for purchase of the track.

“It’s a relief to get this done,” Farnsworth, who had expressed fear that a failure to sell the track could lead to the downfall of the Beef O’Brady’s that has been open a year in Leesburg and another that is under construction in Albany, said Wednesday evening. “Running the track was a lot of responsibility, and Mr. Brooks is working out the details now where I can sell it and concentrate on my restaurants.”

Brooks, who answered commissioners’ questions at the special called meeting, said he will consider options before taking the next step in getting the speedway back in business.

“I am the current deed-holder on that property out there,” Brooks said after the meeting. “Now that this is cleared up, we’ll take a look at the possibilities for the track. Then we’ll see what happens.”

One thing that could happen is some type of management/purchase of the speedway by a group of race enthusiasts that has supported the track since it opened in 1998. Local racing legend Skip Pannell is expected to be a part of that group.

Businessman James Simons is another member of the collective looking to have cars running at the round dirt track by as early as July.

“There’s nothing concrete right now, but the track is definitely going to re-open,” Simons said. “There will be some things done different; you’re talking about racing people running things rather than promoters.

“It looks like in the short-term Mr. Brooks is planning to have Skip manage the racing, but he (Brooks) hasn’t hidden the fact that he wants to eventually sell the property. He’s just such a smart businessman; he knows that property is worth more as a race track than a place to grow weeds.”

District 2 Commissioner John Hayes, who asked the commission to deny Farnsworth’s request at an earlier meeting due to the complaints registered by members of the Radium Springs Neighborhood Association, said he expects strict adherance to the conditions imposed by the commission for racing to resume.

“I have a lot of confidence Bob Brooks is going to do what he says he’ll do,” Hayes said. “But I’m concerned with compliance once the racing begins. I would feel more comfortable knowing that there are stated conditions in place that will continue to protect our citizens.”

Commission Chair Jeff Sinyard, who had pushed to have the issue settled during Monday’s commission business session, told commissioners he was prepared to stay “until 2 a.m. today to make sure we get this done.” The commission cancelled the scheduled vote Monday when District 1 Commissioner Lamar Hudgins noted that the list of conditions specified in a letter from Brooks differed from conditions previously presented to the board.

“Before you approved the (original) conditions presented to the commission, they were ammended by the applicant,” County Attorney Spencer Lee said. “The motion is the same — that racing of all vehicles be allowed under specified conditions — but we need to make sure we’re in agreement on those conditions.

“You, as a board, can modify the conditions, leave them as they are or ask for additional conditions. The applicant can accept or reject any or all of the conditions.”

One of the conditions sought by Brooks was that the 1998 request to include a 10-foot-wide landscaped buffer on the property be repealed.

Planning Director Howard Brown told commissioners the original need for that buffer, which was to be used for aesthetic purposes moreso than noise abatement, was no longer feasible.

“The buffer was to control visual appearance,” Brown said. “Changes in the adjacent land usage, however, means the previous condition would no longer be required. Things changed; it no longer is feasible to require a buffer.”

District 6 Commissioner Jack Stone asked if the buffer would have any affect on noise at the track.

“No, sir,” Brown said. “The buffer is not needed.”

Conditions agreed to by Brooks and the commission include a limitation on the hours of operation (9 a.m.-11 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays and holidays), the requirement of mufflers designed to reduce noise on all vehicles, and the presence of security, EMS and firefighters at all events.

“Code Enforcement will be very active in making sure the stipulations we’ve agreed to are enforced,” Sinyard said. “The owners have agreed that if cars with faulty emission systems are detected, they will be pulled from the track and not allowed to race. I think that’s very important.”

County Administrator Richard Crowdis added that the Dougherty Police Department would also work with Code Enforcement to assure compliance.

The commission had noise experts from Georgia Tech measure decibel levels at and around the track for vehicles that utilized a prescribed muffler system and others that didn’t last Friday. A report from those tests was presented to commissioners over the weekend.

“It’s important to note that the folks at Georgia Tech did that work for us pro bono (at no cost),” Sinyard said after the meeting. “They used very sophisticated and expensive equipment, and I think their report shows that noise can be kept at an acceptable level at the track. It’s never going to be a perfect scenario, but as elected officials we have to weigh all of the issues before making a decision.”

They key, Sinyard said, was getting the issue settled and getting it right.

“Yes, this process took a long time,” he said. “But now we have a document in effect that will remain intact after all of us are gone. I commend this commission; I think we did all we could to make sure we did the right thing.”

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