GAINESVILLE – Residents living along the Benefield Road corridor in southern Hall County united Tuesday evening to try and convince the Hall County Planning Commission that the bucolic setting in which they live will be taken away if major expansion plans at Lanier Raceplex are allowed.
Planning Commission Chairman Chris Braswell cut off public comment after fourteen people spoke; there were several others who wanted to speak but time limitations had been met. All who commented spoke in opposition to the development plan, with most agreeing that they knew of the nearby race tracks when they purchased their homes, but in the words of one speaker, “We have adjusted to the infrequent noise and increased traffic accordingly.”
(Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, which staged its first race in 1970, is across Winder Highway from Lanier Raceplex. Lanier Raceplex was opened in 1982.)
Those opposed to the four amended-use and rezoning applications brought forward by MP Partners Development, LLC, said with the expansion at Lanier Raceplex would come increased race frequency, additional days of loud engine noise, light pollution, a major increase in the number of “transient visitors” traversing their neighborhood, and disruptive traffic along Benefield Road, where an entrance into the 137-acre racing/residentia/commercial complex was proposed.
Darrell Rochester, CEO with Rochester and Associates of Gainesville, presented the quartet of applications to the Planning Commission. “The developer’s intent…is to develop this property in such a way that it is complimentary to the Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta property. The intent here is not to compete with Road Atlanta but to be complimentary to it.”
According to the developer, “The proposed Planned Commercial Development (PCD) will create a village concept centered around motorsports and car enthusiasts…with options for recreation, lodging, commercial and residential uses.”
Specifically the plan as submitted would add 17 single family residences, 82 rentable race-day cottages, 50 luxury RV parking spots, car-condos, and over 900,000-square feet of retail and office space (up to 70-feet in height) including a hotel. Seating in the racetrack grandstand would be increased to accommodate 20,000 spectators and Rally-cross racing would be introduced. A 10-year build-out was mentioned as the envisioned timeline.
Benefield Road resident John Gallagher said, “From my front porch I can’t see myself looking at a six-story hotel. A 70-foot tall building? I’m gonna see that instead of the trees and wildlife? It all seems bad.”
Area resident Peter Erbele said, “We like our quietude when we can get it. We all tolerate the track. I don’t like the track…but they are trespassers on our peace.”
After more than two hours of comment, questions and discussion commissioners added nine conditions to the seven conditions originally recommended by the Planning Department. Commissioners, then unanimously recommended for approval all four applications.
“We’ve given this the time it deserves,” Braswell said. “This is important; it affects a lot of people.”
Some of the supplemental conditions recommended by the Planning Commission include:
- No access onto Benefield Road except by those living in the single-family residential development, with all lots being a minimum of one acre in size and using a shared driveway
- Extensive fencing within the complex to segregate various areas with 50-foot wide vegetative buffers in multiple locations
- No lighting allowed for Rally-cross racing
- Hotel limited to three stories in height
- Hours when car-engines may be run and maintained limited to 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
The final decisions on the individual applications will need to come from the Hall County Commission when it meets on August 12th.
