Noblesville hits brakes on kart racing, OKs auto dealership

The Noblesville Plan Commission raised a yellow flag Monday on California-based K1 Speed Inc.’s plans for an electric go-kart racing center in the Saxony Corporate Campus.

K1 is asking for permission to transform a vacant industrial building into a high-tech indoor track, a use Plan Commission members said doesn’t seem appropriate for an area created to draw a different kind of commercial development.

“I thought the intent was [to attract] high-paying jobs,” said commission Vice President Gretchen Hanes.

Commissioners also were skeptical about K1's hours of operation and the potential impact of the operation on other Corporate Campus tenants. Members said they like to have K1 in Noblesville, but not there.

They forwarded K1’s request to the Common Council with an unfavorable (albeit nonbinding) recommendation. Council members are expected to take up the matter at their Aug. 27 meeting.

Also Monday:

— The Plan Commission signed off on plans for a 53-acre development at the southeast corner of State Roads 37 and 32 in Noblesville. Terry Lee Crossing would be anchored  by a 38,000-square-foot Hyundai dealership. Eight additional lots on the property would be available to developers if the Common Council OKs the project.

— Commissioners agreed to amend the Noblesville Parks Master Plan to add 6.4 acres of land the city is in the process of acquiring for a park on the west side of the White River downtown. With the property, the city’s parks inventory will total 840 acres.

— Carmel City Council voted 5-0 to release a $200,000 arts grant for Booth Tarkington Civic Theatre, as soon as the not-for-profit makes a scheduled $200,000 annual payment on the building it occupies in the city’s Center for the Performing Arts. The funding had been delayed since April, first because of uncertainty about the city budget and then over concerns that the theater might not fulfill its obligation.

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