North Carolina has enacted House Bill 926, including a provision to “protect the right to race.” The idea is simple: you can’t move near a racetrack and then complain about the noise in an attempt to shut it down.
Nuisance Immunity for Racetracks
Section 10 of the state legislature’s House Bill 926 deals with “nuisance immunity for racing facilities and racetracks.” After defining what a racetrack is and specifying that this rule applies “within a three-mile radius around the perimeter of the property or group of contiguous properties where a racing facility is located,” it states the following:
“A racing facility shall not be subject to any action brought by an adjacent property owner under any cause of nuisance or taking if the racing facility developer has obtained all required permits for the construction of the racing facility and has established a vested right in the development of the property or group of contiguous properties where the racing facility is located before the adjacent property owner purchases the real property or constructs any building within the racing facility area.”
SEMA issued a press release this morning, crediting Representative Allen Chesser for “guiding” this provision and Governor Josh Stein for signing it.
A Driving Economy for North Carolina
It makes sense that North Carolina is pro-racing. NASCAR has a massive presence there, with major headquarters and R&D workshops. The state is also home to numerous racetracks. Besides major motorsports venues like Charlotte Motor Speedway, North Carolina has about 40 active racetracks that host public events and 28 short tracks where racing takes place “almost every week,” according to the North Carolina Motorsports Association.
The National Speedway Directory shows how the state’s racetracks are geographically distributed, pretty much everywhere. SEMA indicates that North Carolina’s economic output related to motorsports amounts to $3.82 billion annually, creating “nearly 20,000 jobs, paying over $1.35 billion in wages, and contributing more than $477 million in taxes.”
Personal Perspective on Proximity to Racetracks
I myself live just over three miles from a dirt track (in another state). So, under North Carolina law, I could still complain, but I wouldn’t. You can hear the engines from my house when the wind is favorable on a Friday night, but they only run for a few hours a week during a relatively short season.
I understand that people don’t want to hear racing noises from their homes. But with only about forty racetracks spread across North Carolina’s 53,819 square miles, I think those people should be able to find homes out of earshot of a racing venue.
Do you manage or work at a small racetrack? Is similar legislation being prepared in your state?