2004-10-27

Focus moves CMI permit appeal to NH Wetlands Council

Racetrack developer says citizens group is grasping at straws

Nate Giarnese

TAMWORTH — Undeterred by Department of Environmental Services' refusal to reconsider one of two state environmental permits granted to the developer of the proposed racetrack on the side of Mount Whittier, Focus: Tamworth is taking its case to a governor-appointed board made up of experts on the environment from business and government.

With signatures from 30 Tamworth residents, the citizens' group announced recently an appeal of a DES "dredge and fill" wetlands permit will be brought before the New Hampshire Wetlands Council.

DES declined in September and August requests by Focus:Tamworth to reconsider the wetlands dredge and fill permit granted to Club Motorsports Inc. in July. DES found the proposed 251-acre Valley Motorsports Park and three-mile practice driving course will impact less than three-quarters of an acre of wetlands and will not significantly impair wetlands, surface waters, and groundwater resources.

The local group appealed in August on the grounds that DES-suggested revisions made by CMI to initial plans, actually increased wetlands impacts, rather than decreased them, contrary to DES findings and issuance of the permit. "They changed them quite a bit after the initial plans" said Focus Tamworth spokesperson Kate Vachon. "CMI filed one set and then redid plans because they didn't get all the land they wanted. DES went back and said you need to make more changes."

CMI did and DES granted the wetlands permit which stated, "... the project will not significantly impair the existing wetlands, surface waters, and groundwater resources."

"Our contention is that more land is impacted, theirs is that it's not," said Vachon, arguing that the state agency should have taken into account revisions based upon its own new demands. She says DES did not, and Focus wants to know why. "That's our question," Vachon said. "That's why we appealed it."

DES Public Information Officer James Martin explained that requests for reconsideration are frequently denied in the absence of starkly new information. "Generally requests to reconsider need to be substantial with significant amount of new information involved," he said. While he could not comment specifically on the Focus: Tamworth appeal, he said project opponents often file reflexively in hopes that something will come up and catch a snag during the process.

Martin also said it is usual for for an appeal to move on to the Wetlands Commission after a refusal by DES to reconsider.

"There is clearly no new info," said CMI spokesman Scott Tranchemontagne. "DES came back with a list of questions... there was no change. The wetlands delineation did not go up. I don't know where they're getting that. Focus is grasping at straws." Tranchemontagne added that wetlands delineation decision-making was agreed upon by DES, the US Army Corps of Engineers and the Tamworth Conservation Commission.

DES has also already issued CMI a Site Specific “Alteration of Terrain” permit. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is currently reviewing a separate federal permit application regarding impacts on noise level, public safety, wildlife and the Ossipee aquifer which runs from Bartlett to Saco, Maine. According to the Corps the impact must be minimal.

Focus maintains the project needs several other permits for which CMI has yet to apply, including a Special Use Permit under the Tamworth Wetlands Ordinance, a Tamworth subdivision permit and a permit under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System. CMI has responded that the company will seek all necessary permits.

Focus expects the Wetlands Council will hold a public hearing within a few weeks of the group's Oct. 14 appeal. Beyond that, the group says, it may be staring down many more months of watching and waiting. “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.

The Wetlands Council is a conglomerate of representatives from state departments of Fish & Game, Transportation, Resources & Economic Development, Energy Planning, Agriculture and Safety; private industry, New Hampshire town government and conservation officials, and state environmental professionals. Several members are appointed by the governor from candidate lists submitted by a variety of concerned groups.

The project as proposed would be located on a 251-acre site immediately off of Route 25 in Tamworth, and include the construction of a motorsports country club with an associated 3.1 mile road course, access road, parking and facilities for the repair, garaging, and servicing of high-quality vehicles and accommodations and dining facilities for club members, guests and visitors to New Hampshire. Approximately 0.73 acres of wetlands and streams would be filled by site development activities, which would include the filling of 14, 759 square feet of wetlands and an impact of 165,952 square feet to intermittent streams, according to an Army Corps press release.