Lawsuit email that's making the rounds

So much for that "buffer" that Jeremy Porter was gonna leave for his neighbors. It's okay, we can count on the county to enforce those stipulations. (Yeah, right.) The pictures are listed on the site referenced below. I like the one at the bottom, though.... Because you can really see the buffer.

Bottom line, the undisturbed 40 ft buffer and other limitations in the zoning are great unless Porter chooses to ignore any or all of them.

AMP Lawsuit Update

Spring is here and residents located in the Duck Thurmond, Sweetwater Juno and Hwy 183 vicinity may have recently noticed the logging trucks roaring down the residential rural roads at accelerated speeds.

Bulldozers have begun plowing through the proposed race track site and very little buffer scrub, which was deemed a natural noise barrier to be left intact, has been left.

Several weeks ago, nearby residents noticed ground disturbance activity with heavy machinery prior to the issuance of the current permit which has allowed Jeremy Porter to begin stripping the land in preparation for construction...despite the lawsuit.

Even with the uncertainty surrounding this venture, big money is being spent, permits have been issued, and the land is being scraped all before the judge hears the case and issues a decision on the matter.

To view the pictures of the area being cleared, please visit http://amplawsuitupdates.blogspot.com/ and scroll to the photos. The pictures are enlargeable so you may examine them in detail. This site is not an interactive site but will supplement the e-letter updates.

Points we'd like to share with the community:
• The Hamryka's case against the plaintiffs - AMP, the City of Dawsonville, and the Elliott's, was deemed legally sound by Judge Gosselin when she denied the motion to dismiss.
• The lawsuit is progressing in the "discovery" phase and currently depositions are being taken on both sides.
• Though no court date has been set at the time of this email, the lawsuit is expected to be heard in court this summer.
• Judge Bonnie Oliver from Gainesville will assume the case. Judge Gosselin's cases were reassigned due to a change in her present duties.

Court case proceeding...

The landowner's lawsuit against the track is continuing and from all accounts, things continue to sound promising. We do not have any concrete updates or timeline to provide at this point, but this site will keep all informed when something breaks. Sounds like the AMP-ers are getting antsy based on some Facebook posts. Feel free to go on there and make your opinion's known about this ill-advised race track.

http://www.facebook.com/atlantamotorsportspark

http://www.facebook.com/atlantamotorsportspark#!/group.php?v=wall&ref=ts&gid=59029869928

UPDATE - Per the above pages newest posts... Oh, it's zoned, permitted and some construction has started, but that doesn't mean that a judge can't stop this thing dead in its tracks. The possibility is very real, ongoing and is costly to him and insiders - win, lose or draw. Don't pop the bubbly just yet.

The Times of Trenton (NJ) - on NJ.com: Communities everywhere have a right to protection

Letter to the editor:

Communities everywhere have a right to protection

I live in a beautiful, peaceful area of picturesque agricultural land and rural homesites with pristine waterways, which are habitats for endangered species unique to the region, and more than 25,000 acres of protected wildlife management area.

Our city discarded the Land Use Plan and annexed and recently rezoned rural agricultural/residential land to accommodate Atlanta Motorsports Park.

Residents set about to ensure their rights were protected against the noise.

Looking for information, we took our battle to the internet and found Trackracket.org, from which we followed the issues of the New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville, for information useful to proactively protect our community.

Residential property owners have rights, too. It's unfair for businesses to reap profit while residential property values and quality of life plummet.

When businesses are allowed into existing communities, bringing with them increased traffic and exposure to constantly heightened noise levels, those businesses should be required to responsibly protect the interests of the residents they encroached upon by abiding by reasonably set decibel levels and providing proper, efficient, technologically proven noise barriers.

The community must stand for fair rights to protect residential investments, and, in doing so, raise the bar on planning commissions and elected officials who approve such developments adjacent to residential areas -- that's reasonable, ethical, accountable, successful growth where no one is victimized. Businesses can profit and residents can enjoy their property investments.

In solidarity, I joined Trackracket, because I believe residential property holders, the backbone of a community, deserve fair treatment.

If you don't stand for your rights, you lose them while others profit at your expense. We're watching in Dawsonville, wishing success to the community near the New Jersey Motorsports Park.

Allison Schmitt,
Dawsonville, Ga.

WXIA-TV (NBC Atlanta) - Motorsports Park CEO offers freebies to superspeeder violators

Listed below are links to tonight's story. Kudos to Doug Richards and NBC.

Online story - http://http//www.11alive.com/includes/tools/print.aspx?storyid=140187

News clip (which is too funny) - http://www.11alive.com/video/default.aspx?aid=115667&storyid=140187#/Dude%2C+What%3F/Motorsports+Park+CEO+Offers+Freebies+to+Superspeeders/49906865001/50255187001/63752846001

Reader comments from the online story at WXIA's Web site...

"On a different note, if I own a practice/shooting range, can I advertise free range time for people convicted of public discharge of a gun?"

"Maybe Mr. Porter will give these ya-hoos a cell phone so they can be texting while racing around his course."

"There goes the neighborhood. I know people who moved out there to get away from the very thing that will now be in their back yard. Did not enough locals ban together to stop this, or do I smell the taint of political corruption in the mix? I say, follow the money."

"...Fear not,...I'M gonna apply for a pouring licence across the street."

Dawson Communty News: Speeding promotion angers foe of park

Good story below. Some of these quotes are priceless. Love the mulligan approach - now that's great PR counsel.

“We’re just trying to promote a good place for people to drive fast and safe,” he said. ... We’re not going to allow them to get on our track and drive 150 mph into a wall, obviously.”

He should be more worried about one of his customers being injured (or worse) by a known, convicted wreckless motorist. Here's hoping your teenager isn't out there when these clowns are burning up the track in their free t-shirt.

Speeding promotion angers foe of park

Developer says no harm in offer

The wording of a press release from the developer of a controversial motorsports park has at least one Dawson County resident up in arms.

“Giving them a free half-day of driving ... I think that’s irresponsible,” said Sam Horner, who opposes the proposed Atlanta Motorsports Park.

But developer Jeremy Porter said the recent promotional business literature is harmless.
According to a press release, the park offers a discount and free T-shirt if patrons bring their “super speeder ticket to the park.”

The so-called “super speeder” law went into effect Jan. 1 for Georgia drivers who are convicted of traveling 75 mph on any two-lane road or at least 85 mph on any road.

According to the release, the promotional T-shirt includes the words: “I’ve learned my lesson!” on the front, and “AMP is the only safe and fun way to fill the need for speed” on the back.

The park has not been built yet, and it’s at the center of a lawsuit.

That hasn’t calmed Horner.

“[Porter’s] backing people that are driving and showing bad behavior,” he said. “If he were to offer to put these people through driver’s education after receiving their speeding tickets, that would be different. That might make sense.”

Porter defended the press release.

“We’re just trying to promote a good place for people to drive fast and safe,” he said. “ ... We’re not going to allow them to get on our track and drive 150 mph into a wall, obviously.”

Dawson County Sheriff’s Lt. Tony Wooten said the “super speeder” law, which carries an extra $200 fine, is in place because “the greater speed you’re going, the greater chance you have of being killed in an accident or killing someone.”

“It’s an effort to hopefully control that and cut down on the number of deaths we have every year on Georgia roads,” Wooten said.

At the time of publication, the park’s press release did not appear to be on the
company’s Web site.

Porter, however, provided a recent copy of the document to the Dawson Community News, which he said was different from a previous version posted on the site Jan. 16.

He said a miscommunication with the company that handles AMP public relations led to an early, unapproved draft of the press release getting out.

The most recent, approved draft contained some changes. Porter said the old version “sounded like you’re supposed to go out there and speed.”

“We made the changes and sent it back to them,” he said. “They mistakenly posted the old one.”

West and Helen Hamryka, who own a home and horse farm across from the 152-acre car park site in northwestern Dawson, filed a lawsuit against Porter in May 2009 “for the unlawful interference of the [Hamrykas’] right to enjoy the possession of their property and for the disruption of their business.”

A motion to dismiss the lawsuit was denied in November, when a judge ruled the plaintiffs could move forward.

Despite litigation, the developer closed on the property in September, with plans for nearly three miles of high performance road course for two- and four-wheel vehicles, a members-only lounge, 10,000 square-foot clubhouse, pool and hiking trails.

Gainesville Times - ‘Super Speeder’ promotion draws fire

Story listed below MoveAMP's comments.

Call it what you want. It's still a shameless promotion that's trying to capitalize off of wreckless - um, criminal - behavior.

Teen driving programs and law enforcement training - and super speeders

I can see it now... Parents from all over the area are going to feel comfortable sending their kids to this track knowing that convicted super speeders/wreckless motorists will be there to set a fine example. The t-shirts will add a nice touch for the youngsters to see.

Just maybe, the cops-in-training can chase down the super speeders for practice - all while dodging innocent drivers - namely your teens. That'd be pretty interesting to watch.

“What we’re trying to do is get these speeders off the public roadways where they could endanger and hurt others,” he said."

To the fine quote above... And yeah, instead we are going to bring them to our track where they could potentially endanger and hurt paying customers. That sounds logical and like a legal disaster waiting to happen. I would think that you want the safest people around your customers - not wreckless clients. Sounds like a developer/owner that really cares about his clients' safety.

Again, I'm going back to my analogy. Let's say that I open a gun shop and shooting range. Let me find the most wreckeless firearm operators in the state to use my range and facilities.. And risk one of my customer's getting accidently shot.

I could go on for days regarding the screwed up logic here. Am sure there is more to come. Feel free to add your two cents.

‘Super Speeder’ promotion draws fire

Opponents of motorsports park criticize pitch

The CEO of a planned motorsports park in Dawsonville says a promotion offering free half days at the track for people who bring in a “Super Speeder” ticket is not encouraging folks to speed.

Meanwhile, opponents of the Atlanta Motorsports Park, planned for a tract of land off Duck Thurmond Road, say the recently announced Super Speeder promotion is evidence the track’s developers don’t have the community’s best interests at heart.

Earlier this month, the park issued a news release over the Internet offering a T-shirt and a free half day at the track to anyone who brings a Super Speeder ticket to the park.

The park is being promoted as a place where people can bring high-performance cars for runs along a road course. The private facility is designed for participants, not spectators.

“With the new law in effect, AMP looks forward to a likely increase in customers,” the news release stated. The document further stated that the half day and T-shirt were “a nice perk for getting caught by the police for doing what comes naturally.”

Starting this month, Georgia drivers caught going 85 mph on a four-lane road or 75 mph on a two-lane road will be assessed $200 above the normal speeding fines. Fees collected by the new law will help fund Georgia’s trauma-care hospital centers.

Sam Horner, a vocal opponent of the track who lives across the road from the planned site, said the promotion is insensitive and irresponsible.

“To me it just says they’ll try to make money at any cost,” Horner said. “It’s one thing to promote your track, but to offer a reward for criminal behavior, I don’t think that’s right.”

Jeremy Porter, CEO of Atlanta Motorsports Park, said the original news release posted on the Internet was replaced because the authors of the document “made it sound like we encouraged people to speed.”

“By no means would I ever promote people to speed and to get a ticket,” Porter said. “What we’re basically saying is, don’t drive fast, and if you do, we can provide a place to drive fast safely without endangering others.”

Those who present the ticket would get a T-shirt reading “I learned my lesson — AMP is the only place to drive fast and safe,” Porter said.

“What we’re trying to do is get these speeders off the public roadways where they could endanger and hurt others,” he said.

Porter noted that folks ticketed as Super Speeders are looking at paying upward of $500 in fines. A half day at his track would cost less than $200, he said.

“Why would you do something where you would have to pay $400 to $600 when you could come here for the whole day for that?” he said.

Porter said the facility will donate track time for teen driver programs and law enforcement training.

Despite an ongoing lawsuit filed by track opponents challenging the rezoning of the site, Porter anticipates breaking ground for the facility soon. He hopes to have the track portion of the park built by the third quarter of this year.

Porter estimated the facility could have a “ripple effect” of $30 million to $60 million each year on the local economy.

Porter said the park already has sold more than $1 million worth of memberships and drawn interest from several sponsors.

You stay classy, Porter (see latest AMP achievement)

See below release that Mr. "Good Community Neighbor - as he's stated" (Porter) distributed far and wide.

For starters, I guess that exclusive, racetrack country club sales pitch is false - now that anyone and their brother (who breaks the law, of course) can use the track. And just what Dawsonville needs, convicted wreckless motorists barrelling down county roads - potentially causing accidents or worse.

Maybe they wouldn't mind if a Dawson County resident could open a porn shop in his community (in Forsyth County) and invite convicted sex offenders in for a free movie? Or maybe someone could open a gun shop and invite felons convicted of aggravated assault to pick out a pistol/ammo of their choice.

Furthermore, at a time when Georgia is trying to save our loved ones on state highways, this appears to be nothing more than a cheap PR stunt.

So, we ask Porter - given his "devote faith" - what would Jesus do? He would reward and condone criminally negligent behavior.... NOT!

Staying classy, as usual...
http://www.moviesoundclips.net/movies1/anchorman/classy.wav

PRESS RELEASE FROM AMP

"Super Speeder" Law Increases Atlanta Motorsports Park Success

Super Speeder law in GA thought to increase patronage at AMP

Let's face it: there is nothing more exhilarating than hearing the roar of an engine, being pushed deep into a bucket seat as you take a turn, and "seeing" a blur as you speed down the open road.

Unfortunately, driving your car fast is illegal-especially with the new "Super Speeder" law that went into effect on Jan. 1, 2010. This law adds an additional $200 fine on drivers exceeding 85 mph on any road and 75 mph on any two lane road. Though the government's intentions for this law are to reduce the amount of people speeding on Georgia highways in order to lessen the large amount of medical emergencies and to keep traffic flows steady, there may be an unintentional effect from this law. Drivers have a need for speed, and Atlanta Motorsports Park has the perfect outlet for them.

Jeremy W. Porter, CEO, considers AMP as a place that allows speeders to safely and legally do what they want to do-DRIVE FAST! With speeding tickets increasing in price, drivers are going to look for other venues to push their vehicles to the limit. AMP offers a high-scale environment for unleashing the raw potential of sports cars without any of the pricey legal ramifications of doing so on state roads. With the new law in effect, AMP looks forward to a likely increase in customers.

In fact, AMP has decided that if you bring your super speeder ticket to the park, along with your sports car, then you can get a half day and a t-shirt! Now that's a nice perk for getting caught by the police for doing what comes naturally, huh?