When it comes to taking in a good dose of earth-shaking motorcycles and ear-splitting concerts, we would much rather go into somebody else’s backyard and have our good time there.
So, on one hand it is easy for us to want to urge those Wiscasset residents who stand to be directly affected by the Wiscasset Raceway’s plans to host at least one large concert and a bike festival later this summer to get out of the way and let business do business.
However, putting ourselves in their homes for a minute, we can easily see why they would want to give these developments the hairy eyeball. It’s new, it’s different and the traffic involved could well dwarf the usual weekend flow surrounding the Midcoast racing community.
However, we think raceway owner Doug White ought to be given the benefit of the doubt to some degree. He didn’t just blow into town with a new way of doing things. He knows his business and he knows the local community and it is in his best interest to keep the community happy.
We think the board of selectmen is right to grant White a permit with a wait and see attitude. If these events work, but there are in fact problems, those can be addressed going forward. Not allowing something because there might be a problem is a good recipe for doing nothing.
We tend to take White at his word when he says that Bikefest is going to be something in line with events he has hosted at the racetrack in the past and we encourage him as he seeks to keep his business afloat in these troubled times.
We would like to see him succeed, just as we would like to see the concerns of local residents addressed. White has the right to make a living, the town has a vested interest in helping his business stay in business, and the local residents have a legitimate cause for concern.
We wish the best of luck to the board of selectmen since they seem to have a decent seat right in the middle.
