Appeal filed on racetrack proposal

Appeal filed on racetrack proposal

By BEA LEWIS

Northern Lakes Region Bureau

TAMWORTH – For the second time in as many months, a local citizen’s group has appealed Club Motorsport’s state dredge and fill permit.

The Derry based developer is seeking the needed state and federal permits to build a motorsports county club featuring a 3.1-mile European-style road course on the north face of Mount Whittier. The member’s only club is designed for sports car and motorcycle enthusiasts and will offer performance driving schools as well as garage facilities and a hotel and restaurant.

Focus:Tamworth previously asked the N.H. Department of Environmental Services to reconsider the issuance of the permit, but following a review the agency found no reason to amend its earlier decision.

The group has now filed a petition with the signatures of 30 local resident requesting an appeal before the New Hampshire Wetlands Council.

The appeal that was forwarded to DES on October 14 cites the amount of the wetland impact, the lack of an easement holder for the proposed mitigation site and the "uncertain status" of a portion of the site that contains some of the impacted wetlands.

Club Motorsports has proposed to purchase a 107-acre site off Route 25 in neighboring Sandwich to mitigate the proposed wetlands destruction, but the Sandwich Conservation Commission has declined to accept the easement saying the wording of the document was "too general."

The Commission has said they would only consider free ownership of the land, giving them complete authority over the conservation easement. Sandwich Selectmen forwarded a letter to CMI detailing the commission’s requirements.

The appeal also cites the applicant’s lack of "meaningful alternatives" to the proposed development. A description of realistic alternatives to the proposed site is a requirement for the DES permit.

The Wetlands Council is made-up of representatives of the N.H. departments of Fish & Game, Transportation, Resources & Economic Development, Energy Planning, Agriculture and Safety.

It also includes representatives from private industry, New Hampshire town government and conservation officials and N.H. environmental professionals. Several are appointed by the governor from candidate lists submitted by a variety of concerned groups.

According to Wetlands Council rules, a hearing on the appeal must be held. Typically it takes two to three months for a hearing to be scheduled once an appeal is received.

After the hearing, the Council will consider the filer’s arguments and the developer’s responses and then issue its’ ruling. There are several other steps beyond the Wetlands Council appeal.

"The appeal process can take as much as a year. We are committed to seeing the process through, and ensuring that all state and local regulations are strictly enforced," said Charles Greenhalgh, Focus: Tamworth spokesperson.

Club Motorsports still needs a Section 401 Water Quality Certificate from DES, and a Section 404 Army Corps of Engineers permit that was the subject of an October 6 hearing in Tamworth. At that hearing, Focus: Tamworth asked the Corps to require that the developer post an $11 million bond to guarantee stabilization of the steep site should the project be abandoned before construction is finished. The comment period for the Army Corps permit closed on Oct. 16.

The project also needs a permit under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System. The NHDES cannot issue its 401 Water Quality Certificate without the NPDES permit.