NEWS RELEASE -- Focus: Tamworth

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Focus: Tamworth spokesperson:
Charles Greenhalgh
603 356-5439 x 516
Home: 603 323-2908

If unavailable:
Kate Vachon, press coordinator
603 323 8224
focus@focustamworth.org

December trial date set for CMI wetlands lawsuit

(TAMWORTH, NH, June 14, 2005)

Rockingham Superior Court has set a December, 2005 trial date for Focus: Tamworth’s wetlands-related lawsuit against Club Motorsports Inc. (CMI) of Derry, NH. CMI wants to build a private racetrack for fast cars and motorcycles on the side of Mt. Whittier in Tamworth.

The lawsuit, brought on behalf of a group of Tamworth residents that includes abutters of the CMI property, seeks a “declaratory judgment” that CMI must obtain a Special Use Permit under Tamworth’s Wetlands Ordinance before it begins construction of its massive facility. CMI filed an application for a Special Use Permit with the Tamworth Planning Board in the spring of 2004, but suddenly withdrew the application in August 2004 at the beginning of the scheduled Planning Board hearing.

Focus: Tamworth’s legal team believes that CMI must meet the requirements of Tamworth’s wetlands ordinance, which is more stringent than State wetlands regulations. CMI’s lawyers disagree, claiming that the developer is not required to obtain the local permit because Tamworth’s local wetlands ordinance is preempted by State and federal wetlands laws.

Tamworth is one of more than 100 towns in New Hampshire that have local wetlands ordinances. “If this developer is allowed to sidestep Tamworth’s ordinance, then wetlands ordinances all over the state are at risk,” said Focus: Tamworth spokesman Charles Greenhalgh. “We hope that the court will uphold this important local environmental protection tool.”

The lawsuit also seeks a judgment that CMI is subject to the Tamworth Hazardous Waste Ordinance. The suit notes that the racetrack will use high-octane racing fuel and a number of other hazardous substances associated with car and motorcycle operation and maintenance.

Whichever side wins at trial, an appeal to NH Supreme Court is likely. Such an appeal can take a year or longer to be resolved.

CMI is missing another essential permit, a Section 404 Individual Permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Greenhalgh noted. That application was submitted in March of 2004. The Army Corps held a public hearing in Tamworth in October of 2004, and hired a sound expert to analyze conflicting sound studies in December, but has not yet acted to grant or deny a permit.

In another legal action, Focus: Tamworth is appealing CMI’s conditional 401 Water Quality Certificate issued in March, 2005. St. Andrew’s-in-the-Valley Episcopal Church is less than half a mile from the proposed racetrack, and the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire is a party to the appeal.

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

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