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Focus: Tamworth spokesperson:

Charles Greenhalgh

603 356-5439 x516

TAMWORTH CITIZENS UPSET OVER LOSS OF HOME RULE; SEEK ACTION TO PREVENT SPECIAL INTERESTS FROM TRUMPING LOCAL LAW

(TAMWORTH, NH, May 10)  The passage of a state law that denies Tamworth the ability to regulate the development and operation of a motor race track has many residents angry and upset. Community residents are calling upon their representatives to find a way to repeal the legislation as soon as possible.

"At the heart of this issue is the town's ability to self-regulate," said Charles Greenhalgh, spokesperson for community action group Focus: Tamworth.  "The state of NH gives towns the right to write and implement a racetrack ordinance.  Tamworth chose to exercise that right.  After many months of discussion and debate, a town committee put together a race track ordinance (RTO) that established clear and fair guidelines so that the development of a motor race track would not harm the town by causing excessive noise, overlong hours of operation, safety issues, or overuse of town services. 

"The selectmen signed that ordinance into law on October 1.  At the March 2004 Tamworth Town Meeting, 84% of the voters supported making the ordinance permanent.  Now, in a move that has left us all in shock, the state legislature has torn that ability to self-regulate from our hands and placed it squarely in the hands of private developers.  By exempting 'private driving and instruction facilities' from 'local regulation of motor vehicle race tracks,' the bill renders our town ordinance meaningless. No longer will the commercial developers of the proposed race track have to seek town approval on issues such as noise control."

SB458 was passed by the legislature and signed by the Governor early in 2004, and became effective May 4th. Local citizens were unaware that Club Motorsports of Derry (CMI), the developer of the proposed race track, had been responsible for having this legislation submitted even before CMI applied for its first permit, a wetlands dredge-and-fill application to the Department of Environmental Services and Tamworth officials. Soon after the town learned of passage of the bill, the attorney representing CMI stated that CMI had the bill introduced because the Tamworth ordinance was "unfair."

Greenhalgh said, "CMI's statement is surprising since the official spokesperson for CMI stated publicly on June 26, 2003 that 'We think this ordinance (the RTO) can be something that not only we can live with, but is also in the best interests of the people of Tamworth.' We took them at their word only to find out they had another card up their sleeve."

CMI participated in meetings of the RTO committee, submitted a draft of the race track ordinance (RTO), and nominated members to sit on the committee that presented the final RTO draft to the selectmen.  "At no time did they ever indicate that they were planning this end run around the democratic process," said Greenhalgh.

"We are asking our state representatives to take immediate action to determine how this unfair burden can be lifted from our town, Greenhalgh continued.  "I am sure that the 84% majority who voted to institute fair and reasonable safeguards for our community are not about to sit idly by and see special interests toss those safeguards in the trash can."

Focus: Tamworth is a coalition of local residents who support careful and fair regulations which protect Tamworth's economic and natural resources. More information on Focus: Tamworth is available at www.focustamworth.org.

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