The original sites had a goal that when people Googled for simple things like "what does error code 123456 from Foo mean?" that they would get the SO question, not the MSDN docs, and that the SO question would be a better experience for the user. A handful of new sites, some of which I use, have rejected this approach, but I think it would be wrong to assume that the norm is "our site starts where Google and Wikipedia end."
I think this is especially true when opinion naturally follows fact. If I ask "what is the closest airport to Niagara Falls?" it sounds like a simple fact. But it's not. Do you want to fly into Canada, or the US? Do you mind changing flights to get closer, or would flying to Toronto (which has direct flights from major cities all over the world) and driving 90 minutes be better? How important is price to you, since there are major savings from not flying through Toronto? And so on. A map and a list of airport codes can't answer that part of the question.
My suggestion is that questions should only be closed as general reference if there's no way a thoughtful answerer can provide something more than just exactly what was asked. "What time does XYZ open on Mondays?" or "how much does it cost to get into ABC" might qualify. Even then, there is room to go beyond the question and be genuinely useful. For example, should I get to XYZ half an hour before it opens to get a good place in line? Should I stop by a few hours after it opens when the line has died down? Can I buy tickets online and skip the line or get in early? A person answering the simple question (which is no doubt Google-able and on the XYZ website) can go beyond to make a real contribution. Being too quick to close the question as "general reference" will prevent that.
If we find after a few weeks that we're not covering the kinds of ground we want to cover, because everyone is asking questions with simple answers, questions that don't invite good and thoughtful answers, then we can revisit the "General reference" close reason. But at the moment, I don't support it.