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Through careful research and public education, Snohomish County Citizens Against a Racetrack (SCAR), inc. brought public attention to the major problems of noise, traffic, airport conflicts, the environment, and responsible economic growth which plagued this proposal. We raised general awareness of the problems sufficiently to demonstrate to the ISC that this area is completely impractical, forcing Snohomish County to withdraw its proposal. SCAR claims complete success and victory in its announced Mission. About this websiteWhat you will find here is a tremendous amount of research regarding the negative impact of locating an
ISC/NASCAR racetrack in the area north of Marysville, WA. This information has been provided for legislative
briefing, working-press background, and public viewing. Going ForwardOther communities have different dynamics to deal with. This website reflects the specific situation in which Snohomish County citizens found themselves. There may be communities where ISC or some similar entity can afford to build their own facility and pay their own taxes without public funding and without tax abatements. For all others, we encourage you to read the information found on this website. It has been gathered through the efforts of over a hundred volunteers and prepared for publication here by a couple very capable editors. SCAR steadfastly opposes the use of any taxpayer monies to benefit any for-profit sports franchise. In light of the new push by ISC to use hundreds of millions of Washington State taxpayer dollars to build their racetrack in Kitsap County, SCAR stands ready, willing, and able to present documentation regarding the folly of using state funds for this purpose. "Despite the beliefs of a few local officials and their hired consultants about the economic benefits of publicly subsidized stadium construction, the consensus of academic economists is that such policies do not raise incomes"... "Subsidies of sports facilities may actually reduce the incomes of the alleged beneficiaries". (Coates and Humphreys) In short: There is absolutely no evidence to back up the wild claims of economic return being spouted by the ISC, it's majority owner, NASCAR, or NASCAR's owners, the France family of Florida. Nada -- nil -- zip -- none -- no evidence. SCAR came into being in April, 2004 because of the announcement by Snohomish County and the City of Marysville (both Washington) that they had submitted a proposal to the ISC to seek the construction of an ISC/NASCAR racetrack in north Marysville, adjacent to the southern boundary of the City of Arlington. Concerned citizens began studying that proposal and were alarmed at its implications. (The full and original contents of the Proposal are available on this web site.)
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