Tin Man
06-01-2006, 21:15
<H4>Just what the trail needs another race track. :-? At least the ATC is weighing in on this one. :)
From the Pocono Record (http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060531/NEWS/605310332/-1/NEWS)
Controversial car club starts selling memberships
</H4>GEMA MARÍA DUARTE
Pocono Record Writer
May 31, 2006
KUNKLETOWN — Memberships for a controversial sports car track are for sale even though the attraction isn't under construction yet.
Alpine Motorsports Club President Richard Muller Jr. has hired Philadelphia-based Front Row Marketing, a division of Comcast/Spectacor that owns the 76ers, Flyers, Wachovia Center, Spectrum and other arenas.
Front Row Marketing is advertising membership sales and has announced that groundbreaking will take place before next spring at the 361-acre site off Mountain Road south of Kunkletown, at the foot of Blue Mountain near the Appalachian Trail.
It would feature a three-mile road course with dips and turns for high performance cars, a welcome center, lodging, fuel station, garages, driver's education classrooms and courts for basketball, volleyball and tennis.
Muller must comply with all conditions Eldred supervisors placed on the project in 2002, sign an agreement with the township and post bond before breaking ground.
As part of the laundry list of conditions, Muller must provide 60-day updates to the township, as of October 2004.
Muller has received a highway occupancy permit from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, but is still waiting for an environmental permit from the Department of Environmental Protection. That permit is under appeal by activist groups fighting the project.
If the DEP permit is granted to Muller, he will be only a few steps from receiving final approval from Eldred Township.
Alpine Motorsports Club is currently selling "signature memberships" at $33,000 as a one-time investment. Signature memberships allow unlimited track time.
Annual fees will be $4,000, which will increase if the cost of living increases, said Kimberly Carrodo-Bowers, director of sales and marketing.
At the 10th anniversary of the track, investors will receive a 75 percent return on the initial $33,000, she said.
Signature members who leave the club before the 10th anniversary will be returned the 75 percent, and Alpine will resell the membership, Carrodo-Bowers said.
About 35 percent of the 500 "signature memberships" offered by the club have been sold, she said.
After the 500 slots are filled, general membership will cost $38,000, annual dues also will rise and the 75 percent return won't be available, the director said.
The total club membership will not exceed 1,200 and no more than 25 cars will be allowed on the track at one time, Carrodo-Bowers said.
Investors are being advised of the ambient sound restrictions, both verbally and in the contract that states the sports cars must be muffled, she said.
For neighbors like Bill Werkheiser, ambient sound is a major concern. His property line is less than 100 yards from the proposed track.
Werkheiser moved from a 1.5-acre house in Wind Gap two years ago to a 4-acre lot in Eldred Township to have more privacy and enjoy the natural scenery of the Appalachian Trail, which is about a quarter-mile from his property.
But his haven will be ruined, he said, if the noise limits are not enforced by the township. The appellate court ruled in April 2005 that Eldred Township can enforce the noise limits.
Werkheiser's concern is: Who in the township will enforce the ambient sound levels?
The township will need to hire a sound reading expert if the sound limits seem to be exceeded, officials said. Sound violations can only be determined once the track is built and cars use the proposed club.
The Alpine Motorsports proposal encountered strong opposition from the start, with neighbors objecting to the noise and traffic they feel the car club will bring to the area. They formed the Blue Mountain Preservation Association, or BMPA, to oppose the project.
Eldred Township supervisors in November 2002 granted preliminary approval to a land development plan for the car club, known at that time as Alpine Rose Resorts. Supervisors granted final approval in October 2004.
Two environmental groups — the BMPA and Appalachian Trail Conference — filed a series of appeals in county and state court. The two groups argued that the "natural, scenic, historic and aesthetic values" of the Appalachian Trail were endangered and the township was not following its duty to protect those values.
The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania rejected an appeal last year.
On the Web: www.alpinesignature.com
From the Pocono Record (http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060531/NEWS/605310332/-1/NEWS)
Controversial car club starts selling memberships
</H4>GEMA MARÍA DUARTE
Pocono Record Writer
May 31, 2006
KUNKLETOWN — Memberships for a controversial sports car track are for sale even though the attraction isn't under construction yet.
Alpine Motorsports Club President Richard Muller Jr. has hired Philadelphia-based Front Row Marketing, a division of Comcast/Spectacor that owns the 76ers, Flyers, Wachovia Center, Spectrum and other arenas.
Front Row Marketing is advertising membership sales and has announced that groundbreaking will take place before next spring at the 361-acre site off Mountain Road south of Kunkletown, at the foot of Blue Mountain near the Appalachian Trail.
It would feature a three-mile road course with dips and turns for high performance cars, a welcome center, lodging, fuel station, garages, driver's education classrooms and courts for basketball, volleyball and tennis.
Muller must comply with all conditions Eldred supervisors placed on the project in 2002, sign an agreement with the township and post bond before breaking ground.
As part of the laundry list of conditions, Muller must provide 60-day updates to the township, as of October 2004.
Muller has received a highway occupancy permit from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, but is still waiting for an environmental permit from the Department of Environmental Protection. That permit is under appeal by activist groups fighting the project.
If the DEP permit is granted to Muller, he will be only a few steps from receiving final approval from Eldred Township.
Alpine Motorsports Club is currently selling "signature memberships" at $33,000 as a one-time investment. Signature memberships allow unlimited track time.
Annual fees will be $4,000, which will increase if the cost of living increases, said Kimberly Carrodo-Bowers, director of sales and marketing.
At the 10th anniversary of the track, investors will receive a 75 percent return on the initial $33,000, she said.
Signature members who leave the club before the 10th anniversary will be returned the 75 percent, and Alpine will resell the membership, Carrodo-Bowers said.
About 35 percent of the 500 "signature memberships" offered by the club have been sold, she said.
After the 500 slots are filled, general membership will cost $38,000, annual dues also will rise and the 75 percent return won't be available, the director said.
The total club membership will not exceed 1,200 and no more than 25 cars will be allowed on the track at one time, Carrodo-Bowers said.
Investors are being advised of the ambient sound restrictions, both verbally and in the contract that states the sports cars must be muffled, she said.
For neighbors like Bill Werkheiser, ambient sound is a major concern. His property line is less than 100 yards from the proposed track.
Werkheiser moved from a 1.5-acre house in Wind Gap two years ago to a 4-acre lot in Eldred Township to have more privacy and enjoy the natural scenery of the Appalachian Trail, which is about a quarter-mile from his property.
But his haven will be ruined, he said, if the noise limits are not enforced by the township. The appellate court ruled in April 2005 that Eldred Township can enforce the noise limits.
Werkheiser's concern is: Who in the township will enforce the ambient sound levels?
The township will need to hire a sound reading expert if the sound limits seem to be exceeded, officials said. Sound violations can only be determined once the track is built and cars use the proposed club.
The Alpine Motorsports proposal encountered strong opposition from the start, with neighbors objecting to the noise and traffic they feel the car club will bring to the area. They formed the Blue Mountain Preservation Association, or BMPA, to oppose the project.
Eldred Township supervisors in November 2002 granted preliminary approval to a land development plan for the car club, known at that time as Alpine Rose Resorts. Supervisors granted final approval in October 2004.
Two environmental groups — the BMPA and Appalachian Trail Conference — filed a series of appeals in county and state court. The two groups argued that the "natural, scenic, historic and aesthetic values" of the Appalachian Trail were endangered and the township was not following its duty to protect those values.
The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania rejected an appeal last year.
On the Web: www.alpinesignature.com