Putting people before money for a change.

Concord City Council members voted unanimously Monday to halt construction on a drag strip that's being built at the Lowe's Motor Speedway complex, according to the Charlotte Observer.
A surprising move since proponents claim the drag strip would bring high-paying jobs and millions of dollars in needed tax revenues to Concord.

I applaud the City Council members for choosing the health of people above the almighty dollar for once.

Speedway owner Bruton "I can do whatever I want" Smith in August announced plans to build the drag strip, saying then that racing would begin next spring. The land for the drag strip backs up to neighborhoods and businesses, including a hotel and convention center.

Smith Apparently thinks he's the king of the land around here and started grading his land about a week ago, without even applying for the required permits. The council's vote Monday changed the zoning on Smith's property to bar drag strips.

Last week, Smith said city officials "weren't doing enough" to back motor sports and threatened legal action if the council intervened in his project. If you've ever driven anywhere near Lowe's Motor Speedway during race week in May or October, you know Mr. Smith is full of it when he says that Concord isn't doing enough.

Residents can already see construction for the drag strip from their backyards.
The National Hot Rod Association, the organization that sanctions the nation's top drag racing series, has an "inaugural" race event scheduled for Sept 11-14 2008, according to insiders this would be on the new drag strip in Concord.

Not surprisingly, people who live in a subdivision that's not even a mile away from the proposed site aren't too happy to see this circus arrive in their backyards, the noise pollution being their main worry. Apparently Speedway Motorsports representatives don't want to provide data to show how loud noise from the drag strip would be.
If you want to hear for yourself, watch the following video after you turn up the speakers on your computer:



This is not the first time Bruton Smith thinks he can do whatever he wants to. In 2004 Mr. Smith wanted to build a new Parking lot for the Motor Speedway. The land he wanted to do this on was within the Mecklenburg County limits. To get Charlotte's approval to build a parking lot, Lowe's Motor Speedway agreed to protect hundreds of trees. Three months later, it bulldozed almost all of them.

Let's hope the City of Concord can stop him this time before he does any irreparable damage.

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