Tamworth board poised to vote on CMI wetlands permit

Town lawyer to citizenry: More debate expected as decision bound for appeal

Nate Giarnese

TAMWORTH—Racetrack builder Club Motorsports Inc. and opponents from Focus: Tamworth traded the latest round of broadsides last week, closing two nights of plucky public hearings over a high-stakes wetlands permit for a track and driving facility on the side of Mount Whittier.

 On Wednesday, the planning board meets at 7 p.m. at K.A. Brett School to vote on a special use permit for the developer. Planners could cast long-awaited votes on CMI's application to build a three-mile road course over 250 mountainside acres.

 Even with an approval under the local ordinance, however, obstacles in the path of the track would remain. An already-granted federal environmental permit remains under appeal by Focus: Tamworth, the citizen's group fighting a long-running legal war with CMI.

 Charles Greenhalgh, spokesperson for Focus: Tamworth, urged planning board to oppose the special use permit under consideration Wednesday.

 “Wetlands are a critical part of a healthy ecosystem and a clean water supply,” Greenhalgh said in a press release. “The Tamworth Wetlands Ordinance aims to prohibit building or other activities that could damage wetlands. The ordinance makes exceptions for a few categories of activities that are necessary for public good or essential private use by allowing the planning board to grant a special use ermit.

 “There are 20 different areas where Club Motorsports Inc’s proposed racetrack will damage the wetlands on its property," Greenhalgh argued. "And much of the proposed construction does not respect the 25-foot buffer zone requirement of the ordinance. It’s clear that the racetrack proposal does not fit into any of the permitted categories, and doesn’t conform to the intent of the ordinance.”

 But CMI has pointed to a raft of permits as proof of protections built into its plans.

 “We are pleased that our project continues to meet and exceed the standards required to receive and uphold our construction permits,” said CMI President Lloyd Dahmen in a press release late last year. “These important rulings by the federal and state agencies clearly demonstrate once again that Club Motorsports is doing everything that is necessary and remains dedicated to strictly adhering to the requirements of the permitting review and approval process."

 No matter which way the vote goes before planning board, the town attorney warned that the decision appears destined to draw another appeal, threatening a new chapter of bitterness and litigation.

 In a latest skirmish waged by lawyers for Focus: Tamworth and the Derry company at a lively public hearing last Wednesday, each sought to discredit the other amidst vigorous public debate.

 Citizens weighed in. Notably, CMI mustered more local supporters willing to speak out than the lone man who did so at the prior hearing. But the five who stepped up last week to back the track were still a minority in the vocal anti-CMI assemblage.

 Town attorney and moderator Rick Sager sparred occasionally with an audience whose short bursts of complaints revealed sore nerves. After a week of escalating stress, he charged that "absurd" accusations of favoritism had been lobbed at him from both camps.

 But, sensing that swirling rumors had bred suspicions, Sager reminded citizens to thank the planning board once the battle clouds clear.

 The pressures of politics have been strong. Both sides confirm CMI's construction blueprints reveal technical water-control engineering. The question facing the elected laymen: Does it meet the muster of town law?

 So give those volunteers who took on the tough task of reviewing the plans some credit and a slap on the back, Sager urged.

 “Any of you want this high-paying job?” he asked. “What are you getting, zero?”