Many Come Out To Support Albany-Saratoga After Noise Complaints

Column By: BRETT HORLACHER / RPW – MALTA, NY – It was standing room only at the Malta Town Hall Monday night. Racers, officials, fans and track management filled the room to capacity to attend a monthly board meeting. It’s been widely know that the local town noise ordinance specifically relating to the Albany-Saratoga Speedway was going to be discussed.

After opening the meeting and dispatching some business regarding new construction, the discussion began.

The opening statement was by Malta Town Councilman Tim Dunn. He started by assuring the group that the Town Board is not currently seeking to ‘take action’ against the Speedway. The town, and himself in particular, have received a litany of complaints about the noise levels in the community near the speedway. He is obligated by his office to respond to each resident complaint.

He then stated that the Speedway was designated to operate in ‘legal non-conforming use’ in regards to the town noise code. Simply stated, that means the track is exempt from town noise codes due to it being established before zoning occurred. Its continued operation requires that it not be required to meet the code.

Dunn then summarized the root cause of the complaints to be attributed to what he believes to be two separate factors.

The first was a lack of information to residents and second being a lack of communication between all concerned parties. He finished with stating that his goal is to see the information shared with residents of the town.

After the opening statement, the Town Supervisor Vincent DeLucia opened the topic to public comment. The first to take to the podium was Track Promoter Lyle Devore.

“The speedway is a family-oriented business that is looking to generate clean fun on Friday nights,” he simply stated.

Devore spoke to how the track operates on race nights, including that the track takes no intermissions in an effort to get the races completed in a timely manner. He also stated that the speedway employs 70 local people and pages plenty of taxes.

He agreed with the town council that there is a lack of communication with residents, stating that the speedway has received no calls or messages regarding noise complaints. Devore concluded by thanking the board and again stated that he was opening to talking to residents.

Also speaking was veteran Modified Driver Brett Hearn as well as former drivers Flyin’ Brian Ross and Dan Carlton. Several Malta residents took a turn at the podium. Some of which had been residents of the Town of Malta for decades.

All spoke to the history of the speedway, how it impacted their lives in a positive manner, and that those who built homes near the track should accept that given the close proximity to a racing facility, there will be times that noise from the track will be heard.

The floor was then opened to those who had filed complaints with the town to elaborate as to how the excessive noise had bothered them or were concerned about the noise from the speedway in general. There were no speakers present or who chose to speak during this time.

One who chose to speak about his support of the speedway, and Lyle Devore, was the owner of the Nanola Restaurant, which is just down the road from the track on Route 9

“The amount of business I receive from the track far exceeds the business I receive from the Saratoga horse track,” he said.

After public comments were made, Councilman Dunn reiterated his commitment to listen to the town residents and, in the past few days, has received a lot of criticism. However, he wants to maintain the dialog with residents and race fans alike.

Other Town Council members also spoke. One of them, Mr. Warner, stated that he looked into the number of complaints against the track. The Town had received exactly four formal complaints, but also stated that he, himself, hadn’t received any phone calls.

After canvassing his neighborhood streets, he noted that most residents replied that they had simply become accustomed to the noise from the speedway.

Additionally, Councilman John Hartsell stated that he was interested in forming an advisory committee of members of the racing industry, local residents and HOA representatives. He wants to explore new complaints of the track getting louder, including concerns from the speedway’s former operator to make a factual inquiry to see if any sort of noise regulation is appropriate.

Supervisor DeLucia agreed.

One concerned former racer, and Malta resident, Dan Carlton, stated that advisory committees are exactly how informational sessions turn into something more and strongly cautioned against the forming of a special committee.

He also stated that if town council members continue to act in this manner, and attempt to affect local businesses, he would strongly consider running for office in order to keep things like that from occurring.

Carlton then requested a motion be made to close the discussion permanently. Town Supervisor declined the request, stating that he wanted to look into the matter further and potentially establish an advisory committee.

Supervisor DeLucia closed by stating that the Town Board doesn’t want to close the track. He remains committed to doing anything he can to keep businesses in the town that have the sort of rich history like Albany-Saratoga Speedway open and doing well.

The topic of the Speedway was closed, and a ten minute recess was called to allow for the very large crowd to exit the Town Hall.

Upon exit, Devore remarked that he was grateful for the support he and the track received at the meeting.

“I appreciate the support from the local racers, fans and sponsors greatly,” he said. “We’ll continue to focus on running the speedway in an efficient manner for all.”

Additionally, he was truly overwhelmed by the response of the local folks who don’t attend the track but came to the hearing in support of the speedway.