In a move designed to shut down the possibility of a major motor speedway being built in Plano, several local landowners have announced they will not sell their properties to racetrack developers.
More than a half-dozen landowners along Eldemain and Galena Roads have signed a covenant agreeing not to sell to racetrack interests, according to Helen Sears, a racetrack opponent whose family owns 320 acres along Eldemain Road. The vicinity of Eldemain Road and Galena Road had been targeted as a potential raceway site.
“By signing the covenant, we wanted to show that we all stand together on the issue,” Sears said. “This is very good farmland, and a racetrack would ruin the environment in the area. We hope this puts an end to the racetrack idea.”
Last month, representatives of Motorsports Alliance–a partnership that includes owners of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the International Speedway Corp. of Daytona Beach, Fla.–said that the group was considering building a $100 million racetrack in Plano or an unspecified northwest Indiana location.
The partnership withdrew an earlier proposal to build on vacant property owned by DuPage Airport.
Several weeks ago Plano officials who asked whether they would be willing to sell land for a racetrack, Sears said.
“We said, `Not at any price,’ ” Sears said. “That land has been in my husband’s family for 145 years.”
A spokesman for Motorsports Alliance was not available for comment on Monday.