I was posting a classified for my son's last years chassis and I came upon this post on one of the local karting websites. My Concern here is: I haven't seen or heard anything from any of the local car clubs who use PIR. Shouldn't we be concerned?????


Read below the cut and paste from a article from the Oregonian -

Potter asks Parks to get going in moving PIR Raceway - The mayor wants the bureau to look into putting the noisy track in an industrial area.

Friday, April 21, 2006 by STEPHEN BEAVEN

Portland Mayor Tom Potter on Thursday asked the Parks Bureau to investigate moving Portland International Raceway out of a dense residential area in North Portland to limit the impact of noise on nearby residents.
Potter's request, near the end of a City Council hearing to determine a start time for a major race at PIR this summer, has the support of the three other commissioners at the meeting, including Dan Saltzman, who oversees parks.
Commissioner Randy Leonard, who made a similar proposal last year, said after the meeting that he wants the city to move PIR to the Rivergate Industrial district, perhaps by swapping property with a landowner there.
Nothing much came of Leonard's suggestion last year. But Potter's endorsement lends weight to a proposal that seemed unlikely before Thursday.
"If we're going to have an international raceway, let's put it in a place that does the least harm for the city of Portland," Potter said, asking Saltzman to look into the issue.
Leonard acknowledged that moving the track would be a major undertaking. "It's pushing the envelope a little bit," he said. "So it has people reluctant."
Potter's proposal follows years of intense lobbying by a group of North Portland residents who want to substantially cut noise levels at the track or move it.
"We've certainly planted the seed several times," said Steve Cox, a North Portland resident and vocal opponent of the raceway. "I know people are listening."
The raceway sits on property that was wiped out by the Vanport flood in 1948, according to the PIR Web site. The Army Corps of Engineers sold the property to the city in 1960 and a year later, the first Rose Cup races were held there.
Track supporters say it provides millions of dollars in economic stimulus for the area, especially for the four major races held each summer.
They include the nationally televised Champ Car race, this year scheduled for June 18. The race's promoters asked the council on Thursday to overturn a noise review board decision that said cars were not allowed to warm up until 10 a.m. on race day.
After much debate, the commissioners voted 4-0 to uphold the noise review board decision. Commissioner Erik Sten was absent.
The commissioners also agreed to raise the issue of warm-up times in negotiations with the Champ Car series when the current contract expires after the 2007 race.
Commissioner San Adams, who lives in North Portland, favors moving the track. But he worries that alleviating the noise problem in one neighborhood might exacerbate it in another.
Saltzman said he supports the Champ Car race because it provides national exposure and millions of dollars for the city and its residents. And although he agreed to study the possibility of moving PIR, he warned that it won't be easy.
Sharon Tracy is a racing industry veteran and a consultant for Portland-based Global Events Group, the promoter of the Champ Car race. She said moving the raceway would be costly.
"The amount of money it would take to purchase or trade property to replace it and all the other things that go into moving a race track, it would be astounding," she said.
Stephen Beaven: 503-294-7663; stevebeaven@news.oregonian.com.

Here is contact information for the mayor to voice your opinion.
503-823-4127 or 503-823-4120
503-823-3588 fax
email: mayorpotter@ci.portland.or.us

CHeck out google earth and see how far away the nearest homes are.

Here is a more recent post - copied from the karting website.

Good work all, we have their attention!!!! Now we need to follow up this isn't done.

--Email Response from City official

To Whom It May Concern:

You are receiving this email in response to concerns expressed regarding Portland International Raceway (PIR). I sincerely apologize for the mass-email, but Mayor Potter's office received many inquiries about this issue, and I think clarifying the Mayor's perspective on this to everyone at once is the most expedient way to respond.

While an enthusiastic headline writer recently wrote that Mayor Potter asked "Parks to get going in moving PIR," the Mayor's actual request was less sensational.

At the conclusion of a recent hearing to discuss noise waivers for the track, the Mayor asked for research to be done to answer three broad questions:

1. If it was possible to move PIR somewhere else in the city, where would be the best location, and what kinds of issues for the community would that present?

2. What costs would be associated with any move; where would that funding come from, and how would that impact the City?

3. If the answers to the first two questions made a move both possible and positive, what would be the highest use for the current location?

The Mayor is aware and supportive of the positive contribution PIR makes to our community, providing both recreation and a strong boost to our economy. He is also aware that, as Portland continues to attract thousands of new residents every year, quality of life issues will continue to focus attention on the racetrack. He believes the best way for the community to sort through these issues together is by asking questions and making the information available to all.

If you still have specific questions about this issue, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

Jeremy Van Keuren, Public Advocate
Office of Mayor Tom Potter
Portland, Oregon
503-823-4125
jvankeuren@ci.portland.or.us

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Cable TV would have a "mega" time with this. Think how difficult it would be to jack up the entire track and all the facilities and move it! Think, too, about all the utilities that would have to be raised or lowered to let the thing go by, and the traffic tieups! Prolly have to do it at night to mimimize the impact ..................... The Cap'n

The " NIMBY" contingent succeeded in shutting down Bridgehampton, The "NIMBY"s are working on Lime Rock..

A good friend of mine boiught a house a few years ago in Noyack, which is quite close to Bridgehampton, he complained about the track.

The track had been there since the early days of the auto, his house was a newly built development..

I dont see to much of my friend anymore.... My thoughts were, he knowingly bought a house abutting a racetrack, then he bitched about the noise...My take he is a dumbass..

Oh and the cows at Watkins Glen dont complain

I think it's kind of amazing PIR has lasted in that location. Urban racetrack. Sadly, people buy homes in impacted areas then turn around and scream about noise or other issues. As much as I hate to say it, it is probably doomed unless the pendulum swings back toward people taking responsibility for their decisions.

Probably the only hope for the track long term is apathy on the part of the unimpacted majority. You best hope that people just don't care.

Dave

I use to live in So. Cal. Look what happend to Riverside International Raceway!!!!! And Ontario!! Same deal! But time goes on. You can still go to Willow Springs. In So Cal. Up here at least we have 3 tracks to go to. You just have to travel a bit. Not including Buttonwillow?) SP.

Its not that people buy them. Its that people build them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In California there is Willow Springs, Buttonwillow, Thunderhill, Laguna Seca, SearsPoint. After Sears Point, heading north, there is only Portland (PIR) and Pacific Raceway here in the pacific northwest.

Did you know that the Portland raceway is one, if not the only one, that is a public park. Also, did you know that the fees that the raceway brings in are a significant portion of parks bureau budget? Also, that land where the track sits is the old community of Vanport, which in the late '40's was wiped out by a flooding Columbia river. If the river floods a golf course or race track (its current uses) - so what!?! But if they develop it as an industrial park and it floods - what about the milions of dollars in damage to both property and the environment.

I have always been proud of the fact that our community (Portland, and Oregon in general) could balance the need for growth and the need for open space in our urban environments. Our community has been able to balance the needs of all in the uses that our parks can, and should support.

There are many who feel as I do that, if our community decides that we need another industrial park and along with it, the tax breaks that our community leaders give away to draw new businesses to this park, it would be the last straw.

I thought this rant would make me feel better. It just made me feel worse...

Maybe I should move to Utah, have lots of wives and live near that new Miller Motorsports complex. Buy up all of the land around it... and then write the most restrictive CC & R's for the developemnt of said property. (Race track first, you second. If you don't like the noise, then don't buy here. If you buy here and complain, then we take your home and auction it to the lowest bidder.)

Years ago I heard this saying and it is sooo true... "you can't fix STUPID!"

There, that makes me feel better!

Yup, NIMBYs are a huge pain in the ass...they do it with airports too. In San Jose there is Reid-Hillview airport, small, non-commercial, you know the drill....used to be surrounded by orchards and hay fields when I went to HS in the 60s now surrounded by malls and housing tracts and predictably they have been trying to shut the place down...all of a sudden there is too much noise and danger...NO SHIT...and you didn't notice this when you built here??? You really can't fix stupid...what a shame.

You're so funny, Cap'n..."do it at night"...that's hilarious!