FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Kate Vachon, Focus: Tamworth press coordinator
603 323 8224
focus@focustamworth.org

Citizen’s group thanks Planning Board for denying CMI’s Special Use Permit

(TAMWORTH, NH, November 9, 2006)

At a meeting Wednesday night, five members of the Tamworth Planning Board voted to deny a Special Use Permit to Club Motorsports Inc (CMI), which wants to build a private three-mile racetrack for fast cars and motorcycles on the north face of Mt Whittier. One member abstained. The permit is required under the Tamworth Wetlands Ordinance because the project will have an adverse impact on several wetlands areas of CMI’s 251-acre site.

By denying the permit, the Planning Board confirmed the unanimous opinion of the Tamworth Conservation Commission that the project as currently designed cannot be built in Tamworth. Public testimony at a two-session hearing was also strongly against granting the permit.

This is the second Special Use Permit application that CMI has submitted. The first was filed in the summer of 2004, but CMI withdrew the application before the Planning Board had an opportunity to vote, saying that the ordinance “exceeds our permitting needs.”

The NH Superior Court ruled in December of 2005 that CMI must obtain a Special Use Permit before beginning construction. CMI submitted its current application in August of 2006.

“We’re glad the Planning Board finally got a chance to make a decision on this application after two and a half years,” said Charles Greenhalgh, Focus: Tamworth spokesperson. “The Court was clear, the Conservation Commission was unanimous, the public testimony was overwhelming, and the Planning Board was definitive: this project cannot be built in Tamworth wetlands under our ordinance.

“We thank the Planning Board and Conservation Commission for their hard work and careful consideration of this application. We wish CMI good luck as they search for another place to build their racetrack,” Greenhalgh said.

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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