NASCAR Nation: Staten Island

That Staten Island NASCAR project is moving forward, ever so gradually:

Staten Island residents will soon get the chance to have their first official say on whether a NASCAR race track should be built on the West Shore.

The Department of City Planning hopes to hold its first public hearing on the track in early April — assuming track developer International Speedway Corp. responds quickly enough to the department’s latest round of questions.

There have been 63 Nextel Cup races, including today’s season-opening Daytona 500, since ISC announced it wanted to break into New York City. The motorsports giant and its politically-connected development partner, the Related Companies, want the first Staten Island race to run in 2010, drawing in around 82,500 fans to watch NASCAR in the country’s most coveted media market.

When the races aren’t running, a 50-acre big-box retail center — about as big as the Staten Island Mall, minus the three department stores — is expected to attract close to 2,000 more cars during a peak hour on the weekend.

. . .

The developers, meanwhile, have responded with a detailed transportation scenario unlike anything at the country’s other NASCAR tracks. They want to bring in the bulk of the audience from off-Island locations with 83 ferries and at least 643 buses. They would restrict car traffic to the site to 8,400 cars and 635 recreational vehicles for fans and race teams.

On the public stage, though, it all starts with April’s formal hearing, where both official types and the average citizen will help determine the scope of what must be studied.

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Within seven months, Community Board 2, the borough president and the City Planning Commission all get to weigh in with recommendations, and City Planning will hold another public hearing.

After that — and before the seven months run out — the City Council votes to approve or reject the proposal.