Dear Editor:
Regarding the Leitner motocross track issue, I will not comment on the land use legality issue, but do refute some of what A. Spink has said in his/her letter published Sept. 22 regarding noise.
Although I don’t know any of the parties involved, I am generally known to be a supporter of motorsports facilities.
A. Spink states that the noise level measured at 100 metres pass by distance is 124 decibels as reported by Granneman, Schermer et al in their 2005 report.
This report is available on line and I suggest that anyone interested should read it in its entirety.
From my reading of the report the readings in the 124 dba range are not taken at the 100m distance, but rather at immediate trackside.
The readings taken at 100m distance are shown later in the report and are in the range 62 to 72 dba.
As a comparison my kart racing club has been racing karts at the Vernon arena parking lot for the last 15 years without noise complaints even though residential areas are as close as across the street.
The B.C. kart rules for the last 18 years limit noise from a kart to less than 82 dba measured at a pass by distance of 30 metres.
My point is that with appropriate silencers for the exhaust and intake, noise levels can be limited.
It’s up to the racing community and race track managers to require their use.
A good example of a race track that has been very proactive about noise control is Portland International Raceway where they monitor sound levels constantly and publish these live on their website. portlandraceway.com/?/about/noise_information PIR also holds regular evening motocross races, so they are enforcing their noise criteria for these events among many others.
John Gregg
Summerland