I remember when they started the Long Beach Grand Prix, the adjacent
property owners were understandably upset, not only was there noise and a
crowd, but they were also to be denied access to their driveways during the
race weekend
The savvy organizers wisely offered a 3 day cruise to Mexico during the race
weekend to any affected property owner. 20 years later this cruise has
become a neighborhood tradition looked forward to by all who are fortunate
enough to be involved.
----- Original Message -----
From: <Tombread@aol.com>
To: <Jim_Hill@chsra.wisc.edu>; <vintage-race@autox.team.net>
Sent: Wednesday, December 06, 2000 9:06 AM
Subject: Re: Summit Point Zoning Woes
> In a message dated 12/6/00 11:50:21 AM US Eastern Standard Time,
> Jim_Hill@chsra.wisc.edu writes:
>
>
> > As for myself, if I could find a house with a race track on one side and
a
> > railroad track on the other, I'd think that I'd died and gone to Heaven.
> >
> >
> If I were the folks at SP I would have at least one neighbors' day each
year
> and get the locals into race cars...have a barbecue and invite
drivers...give
> them tickets...have a special paddock area...get a nearby sympathetic
> homeowner to organize a "Friends of SP" group and have activities at the
> track...conspicuously work with local charities...and be seen not only as
> indispensable to the local economy, but to the local color so that the
> occasional noisy weekend is a minor inconvenience.
>
> In Indianapolis we have a grand building called The Athenaeum built in the
> late 1800s and designed by Kurt Vonnegut's grandfather; it is an historic
> landmark. It features a traditional German biergarten, which has live
music
> on Friday and Saturday nights during the summer. A half block away a
> developer built 4 houses in the $500,000 range. One of the homes was
bought
> by a couple; the wife spent 3 years bitching about the noise from the
> biergarten, first to the developer (for whom I worked) and then to the
> Athenaeum and then to the city. She never got any sympathy because the
> building and its activities are so much a part of city culture and
nightlife
> that her complaints were dismissed. The noise was always over by 11 PM
> anyway. The point to this is, if she had been joined by complainers, and
if
> they had made themselves sympathetic to public opinion, the outcome might
> have been different. Never underestimate the power of the message that
> someone can make if they present themselves as the Little Guy fighting
some
> corporate interest. And if a homeowner says his sacred home is being
> diminished in value and enjoyment by a noisy corporate entity, I would be
> concerned that a jury or magistrate might be swayed.
>
>
>
>
> Tom Butters
> The Greens Fork Group
> Creative Communications Services
> 765-886-5098
> public relations & marketing
|