Proposal to ban racing at fairgrounds faces long road
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The effort to ban auto racing at the Nashville fairgrounds speedway hit a speed bump this week when the Metro Charter Revision Commission rejected an initial ballot measure proposal.
Why it matters: The setback served as a reminder of the unprecedented bureaucratic challenge facing the coalition of neighborhood and environmental groups that want to ban racing.
The big picture: The proposal was unanimously rejected due to a legal technicality. The Restore Our Fairgrounds group plans to tweak their ballot language and come back to the charter commission later this month.
- Approval appears likely at that point based on discussion about the proposal at a meeting on Tuesday.
Driving the news: The group wants to amend the charter by replacing auto racing with affordable or workforce housing on the list of programming required at the fairgrounds.
- They also seek an outright ban on racing at the fairgrounds within 1,000 feet of Browns Creek.
Between the lines: The anti-racing push comes amid persistent chatter that Mayor Freddie O'Connell plans to introduce a plan to partner with Speedway Motorsports Inc. to build a new racetrack facility in hopes of luring NASCAR back to Nashville.
Reality check: Approval from the charter commission is just the first leg of the bureaucratic marathon the racing opponents must run.
- The proposal will likely face a legal challenge from racetrack supporters. A lawsuit to a similar effort in 2024 successfully kept that measure off the ballot.
- If the proposal survives a court challenge, then the really difficult work of getting tens of thousands of Nashvillians to sign on in support of the charter amendment would begin this spring.
Flashback: A few years ago, then-Councilmember Bob Mendes sought to make it more difficult to get petition-driven charter amendment proposals on the ballot.
By the numbers: Under the new rules approved by voters, 10% of all registered voters in Davidson County must sign a petition in support of a proposal to get it on the ballot.
- That means Restore Our Fairgrounds organizers and operatives must collect about 53,000 signatures in a matter of weeks, according to the new guidelines.
- Nashville has had petition-driven charter measures appear on the ballot, but never with such a high signature threshold.
The intrigue: John Ingram, the lead owner of the Nashville SC, supports the plan to ban racing, potentially giving the group the personnel money it needs to collect the signatures.
The other side: The plan faces fierce political opposition from racetrack backers.
- Earlier this week, the laborers union announced it is forming a pro-racetrack group to oppose banning racing.
- The union wants to earn the construction work for a new racetrack. It also wants to preserve "affordable entertainment options" for working class families, according to a press release.