That's the one!

Oliver's Mount??

property developers and land owners have a lot of power over the local government.

Especially when a majority of people, as in California, don't bother to vote in (state) elections.

This is an unfortunate situation that, like in many other places, privileges the voices of those who do vote, which are generally the people described in other posts; the wealthy and well-connected. It's not their fault that they do vote of course, but it does skew the results and thus the actions and priorities of local governments.

Though it's easy to be cynical, voting really does matter. Mail it in if you have to; don't waste it.

Was the area expensive in 1957 as well?

The correct court name should be: "Superior Court of California, Monterey Division"

I hope you're right @Nick T.

Thank you for this insight - it is very relevant. Much appreciated.

A few hundred “little people” will complain about losing jobs at the track and businesses dedicated to serving racers’ needs, but the people complaining right now are mostly folks with tech and VC money.

I live about four hours away from Laguna. I’ve driven it, competed as a mechanic (club level), spectated and on one occasion, attended with a press pass. My first event there was the 1973 Can-AM race wherein Mark Donahue did a Verstappen in the Penske Porsche 917 Roadster.

Fort Ord was a U.S. Army facility that covered 44 square miles (114 square kilometers). Within that area, Laguna Seca sits atop some very large hills – mostly down in a bowl and was leased by the Army to the (City of) Monterey Chamber of Commerce in August 1957.

Fort Ord closed in 1994 and most of the land was returned to the State of California.

In time, some of the land was developed and one-off homes were built not far from the circuit. California law requires that prospective home owners be notified of such things as noise from racing circuits; so no one living up there can say they didn’t know (I briefly had a real estate license).

I knew a couple who bought a home up there about fifteen years ago. The next time I saw them, they were complaining about the noise to anyone who would listen. I asked them if they had been informed of the circuit and noise prior to buying and they responded (if reluctantly) that they had. “Then what’s the problem?” I inquired. Appearing incensed, they said nothing and changed the subject.

Complaints from home owners in the area is nothing new, but it’s always kind of scary. Riverside International in Southern California closed due to urban sprawl and the political pressure brought by new home owners (who again, couldn’t say they didn’t know) and developers hoping to get their hands on the land to make a buck.

Nothing new under the sun – disgusting as it may be sometimes.

Funny how the group are called "Highway 68", named after, guess what? A road.
I presume every single one of them drives exclusively electric vehicles? Hmm….

They’re going to put one of America’s best tracks out of business and then they’ll be whining their economy has dried up.

California does make it hard to run a business. It’s not a coincidence companies like Tesla, Oracle, Charles Schwab and Chevron and been relocating for years.

Laguna Seca was built in 1957 and surrounded by some insanely expensive real estate. Pebble Beach, Carmel By the Sea (Clint Eastwood), Monterey (Concourse D'Elegance), etc. Hard to imagine people wouldn't know about the track or be told by a real estate agent if wealthy enough to purchase near it, but it could be quite annoying to live near it if you're a billionaire. The track is quite busy. Their calendar is only completed till March for some reason, but every month is about half filled with events. IndyCar race in June, many other events all year.

No. Changing usage has been forced down the track’s throat by these same people. Events at Laguna Seca have been reduced ten-fold since the 1980s and these people still whine.

This is an every state thing, but sure, buy into the stereotype.

The developers are likely bankrolling this new “coalition,” but whiners who knew the track was there and still complain will jump on board. Hopefully, all the wealthy and powerful patrons of Laguna Secs will ensure the wealthy and powerful developers don’t win.

Perhaps you make a good point but there's a number of odd things that don't add up with their complaints.

Firstly it's a golfing resort nearest to the track which I assume isn't regular housing. There's a also a shooting range in between the track and the resort lol. Not sure how quiet a shooting ranch is.

Otherwise it's some housing on the other side of highway 68 which is at least a decent mile away at it's closest. And of course separated by a highway. Most noise from automobiles on roads is actually just from the tyres running against the surface of the road. Highways are not quite.

There's also a fair amount of trees in-between these housing areas and the highway, which do reduce spuds getting through.

Also there's an airport not at all far which has it's runway pointed directly at this area. Hard to imagine the planes being quiet for gw residents near the track.

It also seems that the track is up a hill for the highway and I would imagine that further reduces the noise reaching the housing below the highway, if true.

It would be interesting to know if the complaint is coming mainly from the resort and investors looking to build east of the track.

I don't entirely doubt their noise complaints but you have to think there's more going on, even as someone mentioned the unused land to the east of the track and so on. They will do whatever they can to have the track shut down entirely for housing to be built next to it

Quite frankly it seems all a bit stupid. Race track if all kinds get a lot of flack from local residents. Even small go kart/ drift tracks that are nestled directly next to airports!! Can you believe that!?