PRESS RELEASE

Citizens’ group takes appeal to the next level

(TAMWORTH, NH, October 18, 2004)

Focus: Tamworth, in a motion signed by thirty Tamworth residents, has taken its appeal of Club Motorsports’ state dredge & fill permit to the next level, a hearing before the New Hampshire Wetlands Council.

The filing, sent to DES on October 14, stressed the issues of the amount of wetlands impact, the lack of an easement holder for the proposed mitigation site and the uncertain status of a portion of the site that contains some of the impacted wetlands. The filing also citied the application’s lack of “meaningful alternatives” to the proposed development. A description of realistic alternatives to the proposed site is a requirement for the DES permit.

Club Motorsports wants to build a private racetrack for fast cars and motorcycles on the north face of Mt Whittier in Tamworth.

This filing is the second step of the NH Department of Environmental Services (DES) appeal process. In the first step, the citizens’ group requested that the NH Department of Environmental Services reconsider its decision to grant the permit with conditions. On September 14, the DES declined to reconsider. The appeal to the Wetlands Council is the next step in the process. 

The Wetlands Council is a board consisting of representatives of the NH departments of Fish & Game, Transportation, Resources & Economic Development, Energy Planning, Agriculture and Safety. It also includes representatives from private industry, New Hampshire town government and conservation officials and NH environmental professionals. Several are appointed by the governor from candidate lists submitted by a variety of concerned groups.

According to Wetlands Council rules, the Council must hold a hearing on the appeal. There has been no date or place set for the hearing, but it is typically two to three months after an appeal is filed before the Wetlands Council schedules a hearing. After the hearing, the Council will consider the filers arguments and the developer’s responses and then rule on the appeal. There are several other steps beyond the Wetlands Council appeal.

“The appeal process can take as much as a year. We are committed to seeing the process through, and ensuring that all state and local regulations are strictly enforced,” said Charles Greenhalgh, Focus: Tamworth spokesperson.

Club Motorsports still needs a Section 401 Water Quality Certificate from DES, and a Section 404 Army Corps of Engineers permit that was the subject of an October 6 hearing in Tamworth. At that hearing, Focus: Tamworth asked the Corps to deny the section 404 permit, or, if it grants the permit, to require that the developer post an $11 million bond to guarantee stabilization of the extremely steep site should the project be abandoned before construction is finished. The comment period for the Army Corps permit closed on October 16.

The project needs a number of other permits for which it has not yet applied:  a Special Use Permit under the Tamworth Wetlands Ordinance, a Tamworth subdivision permit and a permit under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System. The NHDES cannot issue its 401 Water Quality Certificate without the NPDES permit.

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.

-end-

Note to editors: the text of the filing is available from Focus: Tamworth.