Proposed NASCAR site could be sold for environmental reserve
The state plans to include the 600-acre NASCAR site on its revised open space plan — a land acquisition list that makes it possible to purchase and preserve private lands with public money.
Inclusion on the list indicates the state’s interest in buying all or portions of the sprawling industrial, waterfront site where an 80,000-seat race track was once planned. But it’s no promise of a purchase, especially for a site that cost more than $100 million when International Speedway Corp. (ISC) bought the former oil tank farm in 2004. ISC dropped its race track proposal in 2006 in the face of mounting political opposition, and a deal last year to sell the land to warehouse developer ProLogis fell through.
The open space plan, meanwhile, can be more than just an acquisition wish list. It allows the state to pool a variety of public funds to buy such lands. Large chunks of Mount Loretto were purchased and preserved by the state after they were listed on the open space plan, as were the woodlands surrounding St. Francis Friary on Todt Hill.
“Being on the priority list allows the state to use environmental protection fund money to acquire the property, and that’s why it’s really important," said Arturo Garcia-Costas, a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), which will release the final version of its revised open space plan early next year.
Sensitive wet and grasslands made the NASCAR site an attractive candidate for the open space plan, but some local leaders are objecting to the site’s placement on the list. A representative for Borough President James Molinaro told the state that the site’s potential economic development should keep it off the open space plan.
“I need jobs — that’s what I need, especially when times are getting tougher," said Molinaro. More at silive.com