Court to decide in December if race track needs town wetland permit

Nate Giarnese

TAMWORTH—A judge will decide if developers of a 251-acre motorsports country club must comply with two town ordinances before breaking ground at Mount Whittier.

Rockingham County Superior Court has scheduled a December hearing for a suit filed against Derry-based, Club Motorsports Inc., by local citizens group, Focus: Tamworth, the group announced in a press release Tuesday.

The suit asks a Judge to force Club Motorsports to apply for a special-use permit under the town's wetlands ordinance, the release said.

The company was scheduled to apply before the planning board at a public hearing in August of 2004 but at the last minute pulled out. A Club Motorsports spokesman said afterwards the company would reapply, only if developers decided the permit was needed.

At the time the lawsuit was filed in Rockinghgam Superior Court, Club Motorsports said it had not yet made a decision whether to reapply.

Club Motorsports has already obtained several New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services permits. The state agency has found that the $28 million track project will not adversely impact area wetlands or pollute the nearby Bearcamp River.

Focus: Tamworth says the town permit is stricter than state wetlands permits issued to the company.

The group also wants a judge to ensure that Club Motorsports is subject to a hazardous waste ordinance, which the group says could regulate racing fuel expected to be stored and used at the proposed site.

Focus: Tamworth unsuccessfully appealed one N.H. Department of Environmental Services permitting decision to the N.H. Wetlands Council. The council denied the appeal earlier this spring, according to Club Motorsports officials.

Focus: Tamworth, joined by St. Andrew’s-in-the-Valley Episcopal Church, a neighbor to the Mount Whittier site, is now appealing a Department of Environmental Services water-quality certification, also issued to Club Motorsports by the state. The certification tells federal authorities that by New Hampshire standards, the project will not harm the Bearcamp or its tributaries.

Club Motorsports still awaits a federal environmental permit decision by the Army Corps of Engineers. Club Motorsports applied to the Army Corps last year for a permit that considers impacts on various environmental features, including water, safety, wildlife and sound. According to the Army Corps, impacts must be minimal.

The agency has hired sound engineers to study sound levels at the proposed facility. Focus: Tamworth and Club Motorsports each cite conflicting studies that disagree widely on predicted decibel levels.

Focus: Tamworth said it will likely appeal to the state Supreme Court if the group loses in Rockingham County Superior Court.