From: habib h [habibhachem@yahoo.com]
Sent: Sunday, February 12, 2012 3:47 PM
To: Gossett, Larry
Cc: kcexec@kingcounty.gov; Ferguson, Bob; Lambert, Kathy; McDermott,
Joe; Phillips, Larry; von Reichbauer, Pete; Dunn, Reagan; Patterson, Julia;
Mansfield, Janice
Subject: The Pacific Raceways
Dear Chairman Gossett,
I would like to add my
name to the following community letter regarding the proposed ordinance for
Pacific Raceways:
On Wednesday, February
1, final arguments were concluded before hearing Examiner Judge J. O’Connor
after nine days of testimony, on the appeal by Pacific Raceways’ president, Mr.
Jason Fiorito, against a violations’ Notice of Order #E1000334 that was issued
in late 2010.
Mr. Fiorito’s defense
attorneys essentially accused the community witnesses of not being credible and
of having an unreasonably biased vendetta against Pacific Raceways, rendering
them unreliable witnesses and generally incapable of honest testimony. They
dismissively labeled the hearing “trial by neighborism” and denigrated the
intelligence and sincerity of eleven participants among dozens, who had
previously exercised their civil right to file legitimate complaints over a
decade to time. Racetrack counsel insisted repeatedly that noise heard on
“quiet” Mondays and Tuesdays, was from police training although two officers
testified they only train for a week twice a year in the off season.
Also, racetrack counsel
blamed the county and accused the new DDES Director, John Starbard, of suddenly
devising “nonsensical” interpretations for certain words in the 1984 governing
Conditional Use Permit, which had resulted in the 2010 Notice of Order.
During the track’s
50-plus years of existence it has rarely had a good relationship with its
neighbors. Consequently, there was previous litigation, which resulted in
hard-won amendments to the original CUP #A-71-0-81 that included specified quiet
days, hours of operation and public accountability.
As the Council has
become aware, within a few years after Jason Fiorito personally took over the
management of Pacific Raceways in 2002, he submitted a master plan for a “World
Class” racing facility, complete with a commercial/retail industrial complex
that equaled the size of Auburn Supermall. But, in order to expedite his
way around current zoning laws and rural restrictions, a special ordinance was
sponsored by Councilman Pete Von Reichbauer, #2010-0189, which would have eliminated
the original CUP, negated any environmental studies for ten years and removed
all the hard-won community protections and public accountability. Mr.
Fiorito clearly did not want any community involvement in his ostentatious
plans. But, after intense civic protest, Mr. Von Reichbauer withdrew the
controversial proposal in January of last year and this latest amendment is the
third attempt to get an ordinance passed.
During the recent
Examiner hearing, a particularly flagrant admission was made by Mr. Fiorito
under prosecution questioning, when he was asked why it was okay for him to
conduct activities that weren’t allowed in the CUP, i.e., events running after
hours, etc. Mr. Fiorito responded that he would call his “political guy,
who would then call the guy at the top, Ron Sims” to get an exemption.
As a result of
information made public in the recent hearing Examiner proceedings--in which Mr.
Fiorito, at one point actually testified that he had been a “good neighbor” to
the community—it should be a consideration that no matter how diligently
the Executive and Council membership work to create a responsible piece of
legislation, it won’t be logical if Mr. Fiorito himself cannot be trusted
to follow the rules; preferring instead to rely on his political connections,
powerful investors and expensive attorneys to maneuver around obstacles that
might impede his ability to make a profit.
Regardless of what Judge
O’Connor’s decision is, which should be impending in the next 2-3 weeks, the
hearing process has allowed the community to get a realistic glimpse at what it
could expect in the way of future permit compliance from Pacific Raceways and it
is cause for serious lack of confidence in trust.
There is fundamental
understanding of the Council’s concern about economic factors, but shouldn’t
members also be concerned about protection, ethics and moral fairness to the
people, who elect them?
The community urges the
council to vote “no” on approval of the #2011-0277 striker. It
acknowledges the hard work and best intentions by the Council and Executive,
but it is believed that Mr. Fiorito is the wrong developer for an exceptional
ordinance and he should rely on current regulations in place, such as a Special
Use Permit, that protect the state laws and rural nature of South King County
to make any future improvements at his facility.
It is the communities
request that if improvements to Pacific Raceways cannot be made within existing
law, they should not be made at all.
Respectfully,
Habib Hachem,
Software Engineer,
Sky Acres neighborhood,
Auburn 98092