Residents Are Revved Up In Fight Against Noise At Pala Raceway

Residents perched on the hills in the unincorporated community of Rainbow are gearing up for a fight. A group of them will meet on January 21 to discuss the noise from popular off-road track, Pala Raceway, which is located on the Pala Reservation. At the meeting residents will discuss their options, which includes looking into taking legal action against track owner Ryan Ouellette.

The buzz from dirt bikes at Pala Raceway has been a nuisance for neighbors since the day the track opened in April 2009. A handful of them spoke about the nuisance in a May 2011 story.

At the time tribal leaders implemented noise restrictions to curb the noise. Despite the new restrictions, neighbors claim there is a lack of enforcement at the track and the sound from dirt bikes continues to make its way through the canyons and can be heard from more than five miles away.

"Pala [tribe] has tried to work with us and I think the tribe definitely wants to help the community," said one resident who wished to stay anonymous. "The track owner, Ouellette, is not in the tribe and does not live on the reservation. He is a CEO of a corporation so he should bear the whole responsibility. It's a disappointment to Pala to us that Ryan Ouellette won't even meet with the community."

Ouellette disagrees. He says the track has banned 4-wheelers from the track and is enforcing the 97 decibel limit for dirt bikes. Ouellette wants to attend the meeting and go over the improvements.

The meeting begins at 11am at the Rainbow Valley Grange Hall.