KCIR to become park -- !@#$k

[cad]

http://www.kansascity.com/2011/11/03...#ixzz1cjsrryo2

http://www.competitionplus.com/drag-...to-become-park

Kansas City International Raceway has bit the dust, joining Tulsa International Raceway as historic, former AHRA facilities to close in less than 30 days.

The Kansas City Council unanimously approved the purchase of the facility for conversion to a park.

According to a report in the Kansas City Star, as many as 20 people attended the council meeting in opposition of the sale. The sale has left the drag strips supporters outraged.

“This was not the right way to go about it,” said raceway general manager Todd Bridges, an employee and not an owner, after the council’s vote.

The price of the sale was not disclosed.

Councilwoman Cindy Circo, one of the driving forces behind the sale, denied allegations the sale was quickly pushed through under threats of condemnation of the land.

A non-disclosure agreement prevents sale details from becoming public.

For the full Kansas City Star report – CLICK HERE

[Lew Silverman]

It'll be interesting to see how long it takes for this "park" to be developed! My guess is that the raceway property will set empty for a good long while.

I also wonder how much revenue the 200,000 fans that visited KCIR every year generated? How about the property taxes that won't be collected or the 20-plus jobs that were lost? I'd be looking at the City Council members financial contributions really closely in the run-up to this next election!

To paraphrase Dorothy, "Toto, I don't think we're racing at KCIR anymore!"

Lew

[Sean Marconette]

This has been going on for several years. Rich people moved close to the track and do not like the noise.

The info below if from the track.

Sean

As many of you know, my post regarding the KCIR issue has been plastered all over message boards, facebook pages, and even made it's way onto 98.9 this morning.

I've been fielding phone calls, emails and private messages non-stop from concerned race fans, auto-related business owners, and even the owners of the track for the last 36 hours. While I am not currently representing the track in its "negotiations" with the city, I'm apparently still considered one of the track's lawyers and the "go to" guy on this issue. With that said, here's where things currently stand:

As you may know, Councilwoman Cindy Circo gave an interview to KCTV5 news last night and claimed that condemnation played no part in the process and that the track owners approached the city voluntarily. This, of course, caused a HUGE backlash against the track owners who were berated in emails and phone calls, being accused of being sell-outs, not caring about the racing community, etc. However, you can't believe everything you hear, especially when it comes from a politician.

I tried to be detailed enough in my post on here that people would know that my facts were accurate, without actually posting any of the paperwork to prove it up unless and until I had authority to do so. As of last night, many of you may have discovered that the May 2011 letter threatening the condemnation of the property (which I referenced in my post) was made public. It is now in the hands of several news media outlets as well as many facebook pages and other internet sites.

Now that the actual letter from KCMO threatening the condemnation of the property has been made public, the news media is down at City Hall trying to get an explanation as to the clearly contradictory statements from Councilwoman Circo. My sources over there have indicated to me that she is now trying to throw the city attorney, Ted Anderson, under the bus, claiming that she was not aware of such a letter and nobody informed the council of this threat of condemnation. Apparently, there are several other council members who may truly not have been aware of the letter who are purportedly VERY angry over this lack of information.

I'm not sure how she could claim she didn't know. The parks department doesn't write letters threatening to condemn very expensive land without the approval of the city. Someone knew about that letter. Furthermore, it is my understanding that there is language in the contract which CLEARLY states that this sale is made under threat of condemnation. Anyone paying attention to the sale they were entering into should have read the contract. If they had, they'd know about the threat of condemnation. That leaves two choices. You are either not telling the truth about what you knew, or you didn't even bother to read the document you voted to approve, which would seem pretty negligent. Draw your own conclusions on that one.

I've been on the phone with the Mayor's office this morning and I am trying to get an audience with Sly or his Chief of Staff, John McGurk to discuss how this thing has spiraled out of control and a proposed face saving way out of this mess for the city.

I'm not at liberty to discuss any details of what those proposals might be, but we have some ideas that I think might bail the city out, and provide a win-win for everybody. There are no guarantees. In the end, it's possible that Sly and John don't even give me a chance to present our ideas. But make no mistake, I, along with the owners of the track are doing all things possible to try to rectify this situation.

Please continue to support the track as they negotiate this very difficult road. But now you know the truth. This was not, and never was a voluntary sale. And the in-district council woman mislead the community when she said that condemnation played no part in this transaction.

Thanks,
JB

[treessavoy]

Thanks for the clear and concise review of what is really going on, good luck in helping to save the racing complex.

If Dragstrips like this keep closing how soon will it be before the sport is dead?

JimR

[Alan Roehrich]

A similar situation has been facing the historic old Nashville Speedway for years, ever since the current mayor took office. He has almost certainly got some sort of sweet heart deal lined up with some development company that wants the property that includes the track and the state fairgrounds. Darrell Waltrip and Sterling Marlin have been leading the fight against this jerk for years.

The only saving grace right now may be the fact that the new Nashville SuperSpeedway (part of Dover Downs Development, just like St. Louis and Memphis)went under this year. Sadly, that means there's a huge piece of property lying fallow near here with the potential to be a good motorsports facility. The big reason there is not a national event quality 1/4 mile drag strip there is because of dealings with the city of Nashville and the fair board that ran the old speedway.

Things like this happen everywhere, because we don't pay attention and we don't support the local tracks. We lost Riverside years ago, it was a great track, although not national event quality, it hosted IHRA races. The guy who held the lease just stopped opening the track, and would not sell or sub out the lease. We'll pass what's left of that track Sunday, when we drive near 200 miles to race at Jackson, to support their combo program. You can still see Riverside from I-40, if you know where to look, the strip is still there, and the poles with lights. Even if the track were salvageable, and it isn't, 2-3 subdivisions are there now, they'd never stand for a drag strip opening back up.

Don't forget your local tracks, support them whenever possible. We may find one day that they would be the only place we would have to race, if we hadn't let them die. It will be too late then.

[Bunkster]

It may not be precisely an issue of eminent domain, but it has a strong odor. Local governments can be just as awful and tyrannical as that thing in Washington DC.

Any group of people that have strong control of affidavits, warrants, hand cuffs, jail cells, court rooms, powers of arrest and guns, can easily abuse the populace. That’s why they constantly need a friendly, firm boot on their neck.

The notorious Kelo case should remind us all to support any effort that strongly controls the power of some city council member or county commissioner.

[Troy Henderson]

http://www.change.org/petitions/the-..._term=own_wall

[chris tinberg]

Every one that can vote in any kind of election in KCMO needs to remember these lying SOB's and vote them out on election day, and call em and tell them your going to do so !

[Sean Marconette]

The below info is from the attorney that has represented the track in the past, and also a current racer and supporter of the track.

Sean



Let me start out by saying that the "sale" of the track is not a decision that the owners want to make. They are not sell-outs, nor are they willingly abandoning the racing community. They are as deeply tied to racing, if not more, than anyone here.

In a nutshell, this was a political move. It may be one person, it may be a combination of people, but there are only 3 major players who have the kind of clout around KC to force the sale of the track.

1. Claire McCaskill. She owns approximately 27 acres (I believe) in the immediate vicinity of the track. My understanding is that she has been unable to market or sell her property for a significant profit because of the proximity of her property to the race track. That might make a good motive to lean on the city to force the track out of operation. And you can't forget councilwoman Circo...who also happens to be a fundraiser for Claire McCaskill. Interesting how that works out, isn't it?

2. Christine Kemper. She owns one of the houses on the hill on the other side of Noland Road, across from the track. The bulk of the track's problems started immediately upon her taking possession of that home. Many of you will recall the huge debacle involving the storage shed that Kemper and Porrevecchio tried to use as leverage to shut down the track. Huge hearing before the BZA. City Hall was packed. While she was successful in costing the track a lot of money in unnecessary "improvements" and attorneys' fees and ultimately restricting the days and hours of the track's operation, she could not shut the track down. But don't for a second think she has let it go.

3. Ms. Ulmer who owns all of the property up on the hill, east of the track. After her husband passed away, she has been trying to develop that property by herself. Rumor has it that nobody is thrilled about assisting in the development of that property because it's right above the track.

Now which one(s) of these people are behind the political pressure to force the sale of the track is anyone's guess. But there is a jerk in the woodpile somewhere.

Next, while what the city may try to claim is that this is a voluntary sale, nothing could be further from the truth. The city had been trying to buy the track for a while, but could never come up with any money. So the track entered into negotiations with another buyer (who would actually keep the track there, but would result in an infusion of cash for the track). After finding out that the current owners had found a buyer that would keep the track where it is, the city sent a letter threatening the condemnation of the land. Guess what that did to the sale of the property.

While under threat of condemnation, the property is dead. You can't sell it. You can't rezone it. And it makes no sense to spend any more money on it, because it may be taken from you at any time. So that's the first dirty trick the city pulled. Just the threat of condemnation crushed any chance the track had of selling to someone who could improve the place and devalued the purchase price to any other interested buyer.

Then the city, through its codes administration, began really putting the pressure on the owners to "fix" certain alleged violations at the track. "You can't have any electricity in your new outbuilding." Ok. Then it was, "You MUST run electricity to the new outbuilding." Ok. Then it was, "You have to repave the parking lot near the outbuilding". Why? That wasn't on the approved plans? "DO IT!" Then it was, "you need illuminated exit signs in the building." Why? Those weren't on the approved plans and this is a storage shed. It's not a public building as defined by the codes. "Do it or we'll fine you, etc, etc,"

So the city started making it clear that if the owners didn't sell, at a low ball price which the city could afford, they'd just come out there every single day and find something to ticket them for. Take away their vending permit. Something. The city very clearly sent the message, 'If you don't give us this land, we'll make your life a living hell. And if you make us go through the condemnation process, we'll make sure you are offered pennies on the dollar for the property and that after you've paid your lawyers, you'll walk away with next to nothing."

Welcome to Kansas City politics. And you thought it was bad during the Cleaver days?

And so far, the city has failed and refused to provide any assistance in finding another location for the racetrack. The owners even agreed to take less money in exchange for help finding a replacement property and some time to operate while they built the new facility. The city was NOT willing to give them another season, or even another day. The city is not paying what the property is worth, but it's paying more for the property just to shut it down NOW and to not have to find a new place. If that gives you any idea of the real motivations behind this move.

So you, the tax payers, while still getting a deal on the property, could have had it even cheaper if the city would have given the owners more time and helped them find a new place. But the city would rather pay more to run a business out of town immediately. Feel free to be pissed aS fuark about that, too.

So the city will have a completely worthless, non-income generating nuisance that it will have to take care of in place of a money earning, property tax paying business.

But hey, at least some of the more powerful women in the city will be able to line their pockets with cash after it's gone. And when it comes down to it, isn't being a politician really about using your power for your own profit?

Those are about all of the details I can provide at this time. I'm waiting for the press release to be issued by the city, to see how they "spin" this thing, but what I just told you is pretty dang accurate (other than my speculation about who is behind the string pulling). The city is RUNNING THE TRACK OUT OF TOWN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER.

The track has been blackmailed, bullied and beaten into selling. HOWEVER, you can still lean on your elected officials to either (a) undo the deal and refuse to fund the purchase; or (b) at a minimum, assist the owners in finding a new location for the track.

Those are the facts as I believe them to be.

[Rob Petrie E395]

I just read on another site that KC ciy councel had a vote last night and the deal is done. They are "buying the track" Is this a done deal or not. If so it happend pretty darn quick.