And indeed commissioners appear poised to do just that when they meet in regular mid-month session on Tuesday, March 18, at 9 a.m. Instead of meeting at their regular location in the Person County Office Building, however, commissioners will convene Tuesday’s session in the FEMA room at the Human Resources Building on Madison Boulevard in order to accommodate visiting students from Person High School in observance of Local Government Day. Similarly, Roxboro City Council and the Person County Board of Education are schedule do meet at the same time Tuesday morning.

Commissioners seemed amenable to revising the county noise ordinance to accommodate racetracks after hearing an appeal this week from Roxboro Dragway, which has operated off U.S. 158 east of Roxboro, under various owners, since the 1960s, predating the 1997 noise ordinance.

Now owned by Henry Martin and Jerry Martin, the dragway last year was the subject of several complaints from neighboring residents who called the Person County Sheriff’s Department when they were disturbed by late night noise emanating from dragway operations.

Ultimately, county officials determined that the dragway was in technical violation of the noise ordinance, inasmuch as the existing ordinance lacks any exemption for noise related to the operations of automobile racetracks, such as loud sounds from unmuffled engines running at high revolutions.

Representing Roxboro Dragway, attorney Wells King on Monday requested commissioners amend the ordinance so as to allow the dragway to operate within specific hours and days of the week. King intimated that such a variance was critical to the continued operation of the dragway as a legitimate business that provides jobs, boosts the county economy from spending at other county businesses by drag racing enthusiasts who visit the track and also provide a wholesome recreational outlet for both drag racing hobbyists and fans. Moreover, King said, the dragway “is part of the history of Person County.”

Barring some accommodation under the noise ordinance, King noted, the Martins “will not be able to continue to operate their dragway.” >>

Allen Carpenter, manager of Roxboro Dragway for the past three years, told commissioners that the dragway is a professionally sanctioned racetrack, operates under rules and regulations and emphasizes safety.

“As a business of Person County,” Carpenter said, “we also want to be a good neighbor. … We want to respect our neighbors.”

As an example, he said, racers at the track on Sundays are not allowed to crank their engines until after noon.”

For the 2008 season, he said, Sunday events are scheduled for the third Sunday of the month only. Sunday events, he said, typically start at 12:30 p.m. and end by 8 p.m.

Wednesdays are given to tests and tune-ups, Carpenter said, which usually end by 10 p.m.

He said the track hoped to be able to operate Friday nights at least until midnight, but preferably until 1 a.m.

Saturday operations at the dragway, according to Carpenter, usually conclude around midnight.

Carpenter told commissioners, “We’d like to be exempt from the noise ordinance, with the mindset of us being exempt that there’s a gentlemen’s agreement that we are good neighbors and are not going to go beyond our limits of being a good neighbor.”

Person County Sheriff Dewey Jones addressed commissioners, noting that while he was “not opposed to the drag strip,” his office on several occasions has fielded complaints, with “as many as 15 calls in a night,” as a result of noise from dragway operations running late into the night.

Jones indicated that when deputies are not dispatched to look into such complaints, his department then becomes subject to citizen criticism that the sheriff’s department “is not doing our job.”

The sheriff said he has studied the noise ordinance and that the language is such that if it is strictly enforced, the dragway “can’t even run the first car” without violating the ordinance.

“We do need a good guideline,” for enforcement, the sheriff, agreed.

By the same token, Jones said, when citizens call in complaints, the sheriff’s department “has an obligation …. to follow up on them.”

He said some of the complaints have come from residents who live up to three miles away from the dragway

Of the complainants, Jones said with reference to the dragway, “Nobody wants to see them go out of business. They just think there should be some common courtesy” about noise late at night.

Commissioner Jimmy B. Clayton offered a motion to direct the county attorney to draft an amendment to the noise ordinance that would allow the dragway to operate within specified times and days as proposed in a Feb. 12 letter from King to the county manager.

During subsequent discussion, however, King indicated there was a change from the schedule outlined in the letter. That led to some confusion as to the actual request, which in turn brought a consensus for County Attorney Ron Aycock and King to confer so that Aycock could draft language for an amendment that commissioners could consider at their meeting next Tuesday.

In remarks to the board Monday, Aycock reminded commissioners that any amendment could not be written exclusively for Roxboro Dragway but rather would have to be drafted broadly to apply to all racetracks equally. Also, alluding to Carpenter’s suggestion for a “gentlemen’s agreement,” Aycock said he was not aware that any kind of gentlemen’s agreement was possible under North Carolina law.

Aycock insisted that any exceptions to the ordinance must be made “very clear and distinct” and capable of being enforced uniformly across the county.