Opinion: Kings Island is less than amusing to some neighbors

Ken Taylor | Opinion contributor

Show Caption Hide Caption Kings Island Orion trailer Kings Island’s newest roller coaster, Orion, will be one of only seven giga coasters in the world- having a height or drop of 300 - 399 feet.​​

Local media (including The Enquirer) have been covering the construction of Kings Island’s newest "giga-coaster" – Orion. A lot has been said about what this "attraction" means for the park and the region. However, what the media has not reported is what this ride will mean to the park’s neighbors. And it is not amusement!

In 1970, my grandfather sold some of his property to Kings Island’s developers. Our home remains next to the park. Since opening in 1972, Kings Island’s leadership communicated openly and honestly with my family and our neighbors. Any issues were fully discussed in annual neighbor meetings with park top leadership. We always left those meetings feeling Kings Island clearly wanted to be a good neighbor. Our meetings included a review of the park’s future expansion plans. We were repeatedly given assurances that there would be no major attractions built directly next to our neighborhood.

We believe we were good neighbors, for example, by being understanding when concerts went late into the night and early morning – often violating local noise ordinances. As good neighbors, we never complained.

Unfortunately, that "good neighboring" has not been reciprocal since Cedar Fair bought Kings Island. One example in 2009, despite promises not to build next to our neighborhoods, Cedar Fair hired Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M) to do just that – build the "mega coaster" Diamondback. Not only was this never discussed personally with us, we first heard about it on local media.

The noise created by the Diamondback (especially at 1:30 a.m. during Halloween Haunt) was – and remains – so extreme that we demanded several meetings with Kings Island’s leadership. We asked them to find a way to make this attraction quieter. We even hired a commercial sound expert, Mark Beach of Beach Dynamics Inc., to measure the noise levels. Not surprisingly, they were very high. Cedar Fair hired their own sound expert who confirmed Beach’s findings.

Fast forward to 2019. Cedar Fair has again hired B&M to build yet another huge attraction, which will be one of the tallest, fastest, and LOUDEST roller coasters on earth. In July, we met Cedar Fair Vice President and Kings Island’s General Manger, Mike Koontz, to express our concerns. We also showed him a professionally produced YouTube video, "Why Roller Coaster Track is Filled with Sand," that illustrates a way to permanently quiet mega and giga roller coasters. He said he’d investigate it and get back to us within a few weeks. We have not been contacted.

Through our own research, we now know that Cedar Fair added sand in the structural box tubes of their mega-coasters. They have been doing so for more than seven years at several parks, including Cedar Point in Sandusky. They could have used sand to quiet Diamondback, but they chose not to. Mr. Koontz clearly feigned ignorance about it in July.

During October’s Halloween Haunt, our neighbor, Scott Meyer, made a formal complaint to the Mason Police Department about coaster noise after 10:00 p.m., which clearly violates Mason’s noise ordinance. He was told that Kings Island leadership and the city of Mason were quietly working together to revise the Mason noise ordinance in a way that would give Kings Island much more flexibility regarding when and how much noise they generate. These conversations were happening all the while they were avoiding (or begrudgingly) meeting with those who live nearby. So much for good neighbors!

The bottom line is this: Diamondback is already a noise nuisance. Orion will be larger, taller and LOUDER. And the only thing that is quiet is how Kings Island’s ownership is seeking to change existing noise laws. So, I ask residents and businesses in Mason, Kings Mills, Deerfield and Hamilton townships to:

Contact Kings Island and tell them to respect existing Mason noise ordinances requiring them to stop the noise after 10:00 p.m.; and to add sand in the box tubes of Diamondback and in the tracks of Orion to reduce noise, as they have successfully done elsewhere.

and tell them to respect existing Mason noise ordinances requiring them to stop the noise after 10:00 p.m.; and to add sand in the box tubes of Diamondback and in the tracks of Orion to reduce noise, as they have successfully done elsewhere. Contact local government and law enforcement officials to express concern for the likely increase in noise and the likely violation of the existing Mason noise ordinance, starting in April 2020; and

to express concern for the likely increase in noise and the likely violation of the existing Mason noise ordinance, starting in April 2020; and Contact the Ohio Department of Agriculture, which oversees state inspections of amusement rides, and express concern about excessive noise that will be generated by the Orion and Diamondback.

When you do this, please mention that Cedar Fair has already employed a successful remedy that significantly reduces the noise of mega and giga roller coasters. You are simply asking them to use that solution here. You are asking them to be good neighbors.

We welcome the dialogue, but until we hear back from the park’s leadership, we want Kings Island patrons – including those at Winterfest – to know that they are supporting a business that is not treating its neighbors with care.

And if their neighbors aren’t important, why would their customers be?

Ken Taylor lives in Deerfield Township.