Crash course

By Heather Killen

Spectator

NovaNewsNow.com

A plan to build a racetrack on the Dodge Road hits too close to home, say the CARS.

Dana Cole-Clark, her husband Bob, and neighbour Sue Scaling are members of the Committee Against Racetrack Start (CARS), a group working to stop plans to build a stockcar racetrack on the Dodge Rd.

They say the proposed track will negatively impact their property values, and the quality of their lives. They also cite a number of concerns surrounding health, safety and environmental issues.

“We’ve had a lot of sleepless nights already over this,” said Dana Cole-Clark. “We’re concerned because a number of things haven’t been clarified about the plans, and several things have already changed.”

The latest alarm was raised by news that the developer has decided to move the track’s access road to the Vault Rd. Now they are concerned about the high volume of traffic that is likely to be routed along the Clem and Vault Roads, and the possibility that someone will be injured by the stones, dust and debris being stirred up by the increased traffic.

The Clarks built their home on the Clem Rd. for its quiet location, and because they needed to find a site that is relatively free of pollutants, fumes and dust in order to control their son’s asthma.

Cole-Clark is a holistic health practitioner and wanted to find natural, non-pharmaceutical ways to control and manage his condition.

“We didn’t just pick a piece of land in the country, we carefully chose that site,” Bob Clark said. “And we are very concerned now that we will be dealing with the same issues of dust and fumes that we left behind.”

With the increased traffic over dirt roads and the increased fumes from the vehicles, they worry they will not be able to control their son’s exposure to the increased amount of pollutants that will be introduced to the area.

“Our way of living is going to change because of this,” Cole-Clark said. “And eventually he may not be able to play outside on those days.”

Because they believed that they had found the ideal spot to live, the Clarks invested a great deal of thought and money into building their home. They designed it with their son’s health needs in mind, avoiding materials that could aggravate his asthma.

As a result they invested more than the usual amounts into building materials and flooring, hoping to improve the home’s air quality and ventilation. They also took their own long-term needs in mind, building the halls wider to accommodate their possible decreased mobility in old age.

“We didn’t build this house for resale, we intended to never move again,” Clark said. “We invested a lot of money in the property because we intended to stay here. We’ll never be able to recover our investment.”

They emphasize that while they are not against racetracks, they feel that this particular site is just too close to a residential area. And they say they have gone to a lot of effort to prove it.

“We’re not making up these concerns, we’ve done a lot of work,” said Cole-Clark. “We’ve researched it.”

Members of the group looked at bylaws in other counties and compared them with the current one in place in Annapolis County. They have also found a sound study that was conducted by an audiologist and retired Dalhousie professor.

This study was influential in a past decision that prevented a similar track to be built in a Kings County subdivision. This study, along with the results of a survey they conducted, has been forwarded to the executive committee of the Municipality for consideration.

The CARS group recently surveyed residents within a five-kilometer radius of the proposed racetrack to determine how many people are in favour of the project and how many residents are against the racetrack.

According to the Clarks, 86 per cent of residents they talked to in the affected area have signed against the proposed track. They hope that information package they prepared for the executive committee will be enough to persuade the Municipality to amend its current bylaw and not permit the racetrack to move forward.

Sue Scaling said she drove to two other Nova Scotian communities with existing racetracks and polled the neighbours living there about what life is like near a racetrack. She said they confirmed her suspicions that living near the racetracks had negatively impacted both property values and quality of life.

She and her husband decided this year to downsize to a smaller home and their Vault Rd. property has been listed with a realtor for about a month. She is afraid that they will not be able to sell at its full value, should the racetrack go ahead.

“Two different buyers, very interested in our property, both changed their minds as soon as they heard about the racetrack,” she said. “So I can tell you that it does have an effect on the value.”

She agrees that while she isn’t opposed to racing or the idea of a local racetrack, she believes that the Vault is not a suitable location. Not only does she think the sound will be amplified in the hollow, but she is also concerned about increased traffic hazards on her road.

“I’ve lived most of my life here and I love living in Melvern Square. I raised my children here, and now my grandchildren are here,” she said. “This is a beautiful place to walk and hike, it’s been quiet and peaceful here for years. Have they (the developers) asked just what kind of impact is this is going to have?”