Federal
court sides with Club Motorsports, Army Corps over noise worries
For now,
only town permit blocking path of track
Nate Giarnese
CONCORD—A federal court has ruled
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers did not abuse its discretion in
granting Club Motorsports Inc. permission to build a massive driving
club on a mountainside overlooking Route 25, the company announced this
week.
The ruling rejects an appeal of the corps'
2005 decision by members of activist group Focus: Tamworth, and
specifically the group's assertion that the corps ignored key scientific
sound data even as it put the $20-million-plus plan through a rigorous
environmental review.
It further leaves only a town-level permit
denial standing between CMI and its ability to break ground on its 251
acres on Mount Whittier. Without local approval under the Tamworth
Wetlands Ordinance, the company cannot build on its undeveloped hillside
near what in earlier times was a bustling ski area. The town planning
board has twice rejected CMI, leading CMI to file appeals that remain
pending.
Members of Focus, whose lawyers are now
working hand-in-hand with the town, appealed the Army Corps decision
that noise from CMI's proposed resort, including a high-performance
private track and hotel, would not disturb the town, a nearby church or
wildlife. Focus said the corps' decision to disregard a sound level
study done by its own expert, and instead accept noise restrictions put
forward by CMI, “constituted an abuse of discretion and rendered the
[corps'] decision arbitrary and capricious,” according to the recent
ruling. Focus has insisted the track threatens to upturn habitat,
pollute groundwater and become a noise nuisance.
But the U.S. District Court in New
Hampshire ruled the Army Corps provided a “reasonable, logical and
thorough explanation” for its findings that the track would not have
an “unacceptable adverse effect on municipal water supplies, wildlife
or recreation areas.”
CMI Monday called the Focus: Tamworth
arguments “weak,” and in turn condemned as “capricious”
substantially lower sound restrictions put forward by the group.
“Based on the decision by the ACOE and
the federal court, the Focus Tamworth proposed sound limit of 69
decibels maximum at the property line would be completely arbitrary and
capricious,” company vice president Jim Hoensheid said in a statement.
“The ACOE and the court both saw through Focus' weak arguments and
illogical conclusions.”
CMI has been at the center of a legal war
and a political and public relations gale storm that has pitted
environmentalists against pro-business groups in Tamworth and
surrounding towns for nearly a half-decade.
In 2003, CMI first approached the Army
Corps for a permit over plans for its first-in-the-region European-style
driving circuit, which its Web site says could wind near a golf club and
such luxury and high-tech amenities as a vehicle dynamics area,
professional instruction and a spa. Custom “garage mahals" would
allow car buffs to sleep in rooms over their vehicles.
Along with a key state environmental
approval, over which an earlier Focus: Tamworth appeal was also denied,
CMI won the Army Corps go-ahead in 2005. Fourteen months later came an
appeal of the corps by concerned citizens and abutters, including St.
Andrews in the Valley Church. On Feb. 14, the appeal was denied.
“We're disappointed in the decision; we
still feel the science indicates there is a problem here,” said Focus
press coordinator Kate Vachon.
She said Focus lawyers from Rath and Young
are now working with the town on the case in which CMI sued the planning
board for twice denying building permits under the municipal wetlands
ordinance. The first denial rejected the full-scale driving club, while
the second denied CMI the right even to build a road to the top of the
mountain.
A court date was set for June.
Hoensheid Tuesday said the company
continues to believe its plans meet the letter of the ordinance and that
the board has never provided an explanation for its rejection.
“We have no earthly idea what part or
any of our proposed wetlands impacts the planning board found fault
with,” he said.
The federal ruling in favor of CMI, which
could be contested, for the first time in years has narrowed the number
legal battles being fought at one time down to a single front. While a
dizzying swirl of appeals and new complaints has often overlapped in
several courts, including the N.H. Supreme Court, the sole remaining
cases reside in Carroll County Superior Court in Ossipee. |