Yes it looks like local government at Milan track supports its continuing use as a drag strip. It generates local employment and tax $$$. Kind of the opposite of our local drag strip at Sparta, Ontario, which has been an active drag strip since 1962. The track is situated about a mile west of the sleepy hamlet of Sparta, which now sees itself as an artsey/fartsey collection of antigue, curio, picture shoppes. This track has always employed local Sparta residents and offered them free entry to regular track events. A few years ago a Sparta citizen's group was formed whose sole purpose was to get the drag strip shut down. Many of the citizens were people who had decided to live in the area since the raceway was built, but now objected to the weekend noise. This group launched a lawsuit against the track. As things progressed, the track operator discovered that the local township government had loaned this group the funds to retain their lawyer. The operator then sued the township and the group and proceeded to court. The judge ultimately declared that while the township's actions were not illegal, they were certainly curious, in that it was trying to curtail the operation of a tax paying business. The drag strip changed hands a few years later, and the new operator discovered that the previous one had quit paying property taxes to the township, once he discovered that it had tried to undermine him. The citizens' group had a partial win. The drag strip was allowed to continue operations with some new noise restrictions, and tax payers within a 3 mile radius of the track got a reduction in their property taxes. The woman who led the group at the time is now the elected mayor of the township. I think the township government would still like to see the track close, so they could restore the affected properties to their original assessment.
