By Gail and Ada Preston, members of Sierra Club and DCQG. (Sptember 2006)

Dixon Citizens for Quality Growth opposes the racetrack project because it will have serious negative impacts on traffic, air quality, noise, job growth, economic activity, and because it will bring crime and gambling addiction.

Why would anyone consider such a project? We were told that the project would bring jobs, infrastructure to promote development, and revenue to the city from sales and transient taxes.

Let's review what credible experts said about the project. Goodwin Consulting Group was retained by the city to determine the economic impact. Its study concluded that the track and retail/commercial/entertainment center would produce 2,047 fewer jobs and $374 million less in economic activity than the current zoning could produce.

The city also retained Economics Research Associates to study social and cultural issues. ERA reviewed the findings of the Goodwin Group and concluded that Goodwin's estimates on jobs were optimistic. There would be even fewer jobs generated, and the compensation for those jobs would be lower than predicted. This project is not good for jobs for Dixon, according to the experts.

The lack of infrastructure has been blamed for the slow development of the Northeast Quadrant. Morton and Pitalo Inc. provided the City with an estimate of the cost of the off-site infrastructure improvements required for the racetrack. The estimated cost of the infrastructure is $16.3 million. Everyone agrees, in public, that the project should pay its own way. However, the applicant, Magna Entertainment Corp., owns 42% of the Northeast Quadrant, yet is assigned only 21% ($3.47 million) of the cost. The other owners in the Northeast Quadrant are assigned 28% ($4.58 million), and the taxpayers of the city of Dixon are stuck for 51% ($8.28 million).

We agree that infrastructure is necessary for development, but Dixon taxpayers should not have to bear most of the burden to build infrastructure for a project that has 19 significant, unavoidable, unmitigatable, negative environmental impacts, including several which directly affect the health and safety of its residents.

Revenue to the city is problematic. The applicant is only committed to building Phase 1 of the project, the racetrack. Phase 2 will be built if, as, and when market conditions permit. The Goodwin Group estimates that only a small amount of money will come to the City from the track itself.

The City of San Mateo, which is studying the Bay Meadows racetrack, retained LECG Inc. to produce a report last October, titled "The Future of Horseracing in California: Can the Industry Survive Without ‘Racinos’?" The short answer is "no".

A quote from the summary tells it all: "Recent trends in horseracing attendance, purses and wagering have brought into question the long-term economic viability of the industry in California. To survive, it is likely that horseracing tracks throughout the state, including Bay Meadows, will require alternate sources of revenue".

Magna Entertainment Corp. made the exact same point to members of the California legislature recently in an effort to win its support for expanding slot machine revenue. At the same time Magna has assured Dixon that alternative sources of revenue (read slot machines) are not part of the plan for Dixon.

The grand idea of reinvigorating the horseracing industry by providing nearby hotels, entertainment and retail has not been tested anywhere in the world and we don't think it will work in Dixon. The City of Dixon is not going to get enough money to do anything with, surely not enough to fund its share of the infrastructure. All Dixon will have is the debt.

Any reasonable person can see that this project is in direct conflict with the Dixon General Plan's fundamental goals. Small town character can not be maintained when you have a 5,000 stool horserace betting parlor with full bar service in operation every day until midnight. Growth has not been controlled when the traffic clogs the roads for miles around, and when the air itself will be fouled by both trucks and 1,440 horses. Nor is the goal of balancing residential growth with job creation met by accepting far fewer jobs than could be created under the current zoning. If the City approves this project, it will have to revise the fundamental goals of the General Plan to adopt the new reality of Dixon as a "Las Vegas style" destination center.

The residents of Dixon and the immediate region do not want the racetrack. More than 4,000 of them have signed a "Letter to the Mayor" saying just that. We remember that City council members, when they were campaigning for their seats, often stated that they would represent the people and that they would listen to and value their sentiments. Now they have decided they do not need a vote, and last week they decided that Dixon couldn't afford, and didn't really need, a survey. Our feeling is that the letters tell the story.

The members of the Planning Commission and the City Council have been scrupulously careful to avoid any public comment which could be construed as favoring or opposing the project. However, if they do approve the project, and their reasons for doing so are not convincing, we will consider a referendum to reverse their action.