King County gives Pacific Raceways near Covington thumbs up

Published 11:12 am Thursday, March 29, 2012

Jason Fiorito is one step closer to seeing his master plan for Pacific Raceways become a reality.

On Monday, March 19, the King County Council helped things along when it approved a demonstration project for Pacific Raceways.

“We’re ecstatic that the council saw this as a way to give a huge boost to the racing industry in the Pacific Northwest,” said Fiorito in a phone interview on March 21. “It will absolutely manifest itself in jobs and positive economic impact.”

Little more than six months ago Fiorito was fighting to keep the master plan — something he originally unveiled in the summer of 2006 — alive for Pacific Raceways, which is a short drive from Kent, Auburn and just five minutes west of downtown Covington off the 312th/314th exit on state Route 18.

Now, though, Fiorito said the vision has a fighting chance thanks to the advocacy of King County Council members Pete von Reichbauer, who sponsored the legislation, Larry Phillips, Jane Hague and Reagan Dunn, who represents Covington and Maple Valley.

“(They) took leadership roles in crafting legislation that not only offered the economic impact but also offered the environmental impact,” Fiorito said. “We’re very placed that the King County Council voted for jobs and economic impact. It should really be looked at as a community victory, as well. We don’t have to choose between jobs and environmental protection… it does both. They really took a lot of time and deliberation to make sure they’re promoting both.”

Von Reichbauer sent out a release which explained the demonstration project.

“This legislation permits for a more open and transparent process for large scale developments in King County, such as Pacific Raceways” said von Reichbauer in a statement. “Our hope for Pacific Raceways is to attract new and retain existing large job-producing businesses in our community.”

The idea, according to the information provided by von Reichbauer’s office, is for the demonstration project “to be a mechanism to test and evaluate alternative standards and processes before amending King County policies and regulations.”

Without the demonstration project ordinance, the statement said, the county did not have zoning or land use provisions on t he books which allowed staff to process a complex, multi-phase master planned development such as Pacific Raceways.

Von Reichbauer initially introduced the legislation in March 2010.

There is much work to be done, though, Fiorito said.

This is just the next step on this journey he has taken Pacific Raceways — and its neighbors, cities such as Covington, Kent and Auburn, as well as the homeowners — on since he unveiled the plan nearly six years ago.

And it has been a rough journey in recent years.

With the downturn in the economy and the fact King County didn’t have the zoning in place to allow Fiorito to move forward, it became nearly impossible to begin work on the plan, which would add a racing industrial park, improve the existing road course, and generally upgrade the amenities at the facility which was built in 1960 by Fiorito’s grandfather.

The road course, which was built for 1960s and 1970s era cars, needs to be updated to meet the higher standards of car clubs as well as current road racing vehicles. It needs to be widened, it needs more safety zones and it needs better run off in order to obtain Federal Internacional de Automobile or FIA2 sanctioning. That stamp of approval would allow for more high profile events to come to the road course.

A new drag strip for club racers has been permitted and construction should start early in 2012. Currently the site is being prepared for that work to begin.

Fiorito would like to add an oval race track.

In addition, he would like to see 1 million square feet of industrial space with room for retail allowed on the property.

To get there, though, will be a long process. Just to get through all the requirements for the county could take close to two years.

“The next step is to compile an application and that’s a very involved process,” Fiorito said. “Embedded in the legislation is a long list of what needs to be addressed in the master plan application process. It will probably take me quite a few months to put together my detailed application.”

Fiorito has hired consultants to help him put the application together.

There have been concerns from neighbors about noise and the number of cars this vision of Fiorito’s could bring if it becomes a reality.

“This is a time to try to repair some relationships that have been strained through the process,” Fiorito said. “I realize that community input is the only way to make this a successful project, not only from supporters, but from the opponents.”

His plan is to hire a consultant — Fiorito has already been on the phone with someone who specializes in this area — to help him put together a citizens advisory board.

It’s not required at this phase of the process, Fiorito said, but he believes now is the time to do it.

“I feel including the opponents in the application process would be a nice olive branch and would help rebuild relationships and bridges,” he said. “Some folks have expressed interest in getting rid of racing altogether in King County. With those folks, we have to just agree to disagree.”

Fiorito believes there are others among the opponents whom he could sway.

“For those who think that development is going to come at the expense of more noise and a negative impact to the environment, “ he said. “I believe given the opportunity to objectively take them through all the issues, I will be able to get some support from the people who have been in opposition over the years.”

There have been concerns about the environmental impact.

Once the master plan application has been submitted then eventually Fiorito will need to hire a consultant to develop an environmental impact study which will take about 18 months to complete.

That study should address any concerns about the site, Fiorito said.

Though Fiorito’s family has owned the facility since it was built it was leased out for 25 years to a group which ran it as Seattle International Raceways. Fiorito took over running Pacific Raceways, which sits on a 327-acre site, in 2002 and changed the name back to its original moniker.

During the past decade or so Fiorito has spent countless hours and millions of dollars to operate the business, which has a drag strip, a road course, a paved area for race teams to set up pits with room for a midway and a shifter kart track, which opened in 2009. He also put in $2.1 million grandstands on the south side of the drag strip which hosts bracket races, the National Hot Rod Association’s Northwest Nationals event annually as well as Division 6’s Lucas Oil Series points event.

Financing the project is the other half of the equation. He has always planned to privately finance the improvements, which have a $135 million price tag, at Pacific Raceways.

“There’s been quite a few investors waiting on the sidelines (who have) watched the outcome of this legislation,” Fiorito said. “I’m currently in talks with all sorts of investors, without going into too many details, who are interested in investing in racing in the Pacific Northwest. Because (the legislation) part of the process has been completed the financing piece has become exponentially more available.”

Fiorito believes the plan is a win-win because it will increase what he describes as an already significant economic impact. He said Pacific Raceways generates tens of millions of dollars a year for the local economy due to the race-related businesses that have sprung up to support it and the racers.

And now he’s ready to make the master plan a reality.

“It’s a huge relief because we finally feel like we have support for a world-class race track from the county,” Fiorito said. “For that, we are very excited and very grateful.”