An entertainment complex has tapped the brakes on plans to build two outdoor go-cart tracks in Roswell.
Six people who live or work near Andretti Indoor Karting and Games on Ga. 9 told the Roswell Planning Commission this week they don’t want the tracks built, mainly because of worries about noise.
“If these carts are like a lawnmower, how many of you want a lawnmower started next to your house at 11 o’clock at night?” James Hargreaves said.
Andretti general manager Warren Fondu asked the commission to defer action so the company can conduct more noise-measuring tests and consult with residents.
“We are dedicated to being good neighbors,” Fondu said Wednesday. “We realize we need to do more work to get the neighbors in a better understanding.”
Andretti is a two-story, 100,000-square-foot entertainment complex with about 120 video games, the Funny Farm comedy club, a climbing wall, an upstairs bar with pool tables and an indoor go-cart track. It’s open until 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.
It wants to build outdoor tracks for 9-horsepower “supercarts” and 6.5-horsepower “concession carts” in the parking lot on the Houze Way side of the building.
Andretti is seeking a variance so it won't have to do as much landscaping as required in highway commercial zoning, but noise has become the sticking point.
According to a study by Arpeggio Acoustic Consulting of Atlanta, the operation of 20 carts might be audible at a townhome community at the corner of Houze Road and Houze Way. But the complaints came from residents who lived farther away.
“If we can hear the roar of the crowd from Roswell High School, I think we’ll be able to hear go-carts from this location,” said Denise Rauch of the Charleston Oaks homeowners association.
More people would have spoken against the plan at the Planning Commission's Tuesday night meeting, but a time limit was imposed. Only one person – a carting enthusiast from Cumming -- spoke in favor.
The noise study estimated the track would be within the city's noise ordinance during the day but had the potential to exceed nighttime noise limits when the sounds of traffic and other businesses died down.
Fondu said the tests were conducted with ten 9-hp carts and the decibel level was calculated for twenty 9-hp carts. Planning commission members and residents questioned the findings and the methodology. Fondu said retests will use ten 6.5-hp carts borrowed from a track in Florida and ten 9-hp carts “to create the actual operation experience.”
The planning commission is scheduled to hear the request Nov. 16 and make a recommendation to the city council.
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