Conway Daily Sun
6/26/2007

Tonight's CMI meeting with planners postponed

Nate Giarnese

OSSIPEE—A scheduled appearance here Wednesday night by racetrack builder Club Motorsports Inc. has been called off, the town's attorney said Tuesday.

A public meeting with town planners over the latest permit application was postponed after the company asked the state's highest court to reconsider a recent ruling in favor of citizens' group, Focus: Tamworth, Tamworth town attorney Rick Sager said.

The company's vision of building a multi-million dollar private European-style road course and driving club on the side of Mount Whittier has been curbed for years by an onslaught of legal challenges by local property owners and environmentalists.

Earlier this spring the state supreme court ruled that CMI must apply for a special use permit under a town wetlands ordinance. The ruling rejected CMI's appeal of a superior court decision that likewise said the company needed the permit to break ground on its 251 acres off Route 25 near the Ossipee town line.

It was members of Focus:Tamworth who had brought the suit to force CMI to apply.

When CMI did apply last year, however, planners rejected their blueprints, which included numerous stone arches to carry track over streams, and intricate environmental protections.

Since, the company has returned to the town with a scaled-back version asking permission for only an access road, which they said would allow them to explore development options.

Sager said the canceled meeting was tentatively rescheduled for July 25. Earlier on Tuesday, town hall staff had reported that the meeting was still on, and that CMI was on the agenda for 8:05.

“I tried to email everybody I could,” Sager said.