Track Owner Allowed To Turn Up The Volume But Neighbors Skeptical County Will Enforce Higher Noise Limit

Neighbors of the State Line Stadium/Speedway are doubtful that dozens of motorcycles tearing around a track there will be as quiet as a phone ringing.

And even that is too loud for their tastes.

But Kootenai County Commissioners Wednesday ruled that it would be unreasonable to expect Post Falls City Councilman Joe Doellefeld, the owner of the race track, to keep noise levels any lower at his property line.

The commissioners granted Doellefeld’s request to raise the allowable decibel level from 55 to 75, but Commissioner Dick Compton vowed to shut the track down if the noise level exceeds 75 decibels.

That noise level is between the loudness of a phone ringing and a vacuum cleaner.

“We’re not going to be loose on that,” Compton said. “We intend to be tough because we’re sensitive to the intrusion there.”

Not sensitive enough, said neighbors, who gathered outside the courthouse with their attorney Steve McCrea after the decision.

Lynn Humphreys said that to him the ruling meant, “Let business do what they wish and the hell with the people of the community.”

After the impromptu meeting, McCrea said the group has not decided whether to appeal the decisions or pursue a lawsuit filed against Doellefeld in April that claims the racetrack is a nuisance.

The neighbors had asked for an injunction against use of the track last spring. Doellefeld then voluntarily agreed not to use it until he got approval from the county.

The lawsuit was filed after Doellefeld hosted a test rally on his new dirt Empire Raceway motorcycle track that caused decibel levels to reach 80 on Humphreys’ property next door.

Humphreys doesn’t understand why the neighbors should have to endure noise levels not even allowed next door to an industrial site under Kootenai County ordinances.

“We live in a rural community with rural standards,” he said. “Now we’re supposed to be all smiles and giggles because they’re going to change that for us.”

Compton explained that a prior board of commissioners approved the plan for the motorcycle track with the 55 decibel limit as a condition.

“The rating was arrived at illogically and probably should not have been approved,” he said. “A significant investment has been made.

“The line we try to walk is between fairness with the homeowners out there and also the applicant.”

Commissioners Dick Panabaker and Bob Macdonald suggested that the motorcycles should use mufflers, but did not make that a condition of opening the track.

Doellefeld stood in the door of the commissioner’s chambers during the deliberations. Afterward, when asked whether it would be a problem to comply with the revised condition, he said, “No comment” before quickly leaving the building.

Neighbors are concerned that the noise restriction will not be enforced by the county. Compton said the county could have an expert or the sheriff’s department monitor the noise level.

“And I imagine the people out there will let us know if they’re not meeting it,” he said.

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