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PRESS RELEASE
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Focus:
Tamworth spokesperson:
Charles
Greenhalgh
603
356-5439 x516
Cell:
603 321-6615
Home:
603 323-3908
Focus: Tamworth’s proposed noise ordinance is constitutional and legal,
Selectboard admits
(TAMWORTH,
NH, July 12, 2004)
Focus:
Tamworth spokesperson Charles Greenhalgh also clarified the mission of
Focus: Tamworth. “We are a group of citizens who are acting to protect
the quality of life in Tamworth,” he said. “We are pro
Tamworth, not anti CMI. All
of us in this room, including the members of the Selectboard, share the
same goal: preserving and improving the quality of life in this town.”
Greenhalgh
indicated that Focus: Tamworth’s concerns go beyond the noise that the
proposed Club Motorsports Inc (CMI) racetrack will produce. “Wetlands
impact is a big issue,” he said. “Focus: Tamworth has reviewed
CMI’s application for a Special Use Permit under Tamworth’s Wetlands
Ordinance. The application raises several questions, not the least of
which is the scheduling of a public Planning Board hearing to
accommodate Ms Duprey’s vacation, over the objection of the
Conservation Commission and in violation of the law regarding the notice
period for the hearing. Certainly CMI has enough lawyers so that the hearing could be
scheduled in accordance with the law. Additionally, the Special Use
Permit application appears to us to be incomplete, because it does not
address several key points of the Tamworth Wetlands Ordinance and has a
number of technical problems.”
In
response to an offer by CMI lawyer Susan Duprey at the June 24th
Selectboard meeting to negotiate voluntary restrictions on racetrack
operations, Greenhalgh stated: “The town needs a legal way to regulate
the operation of this racetrack to minimize its negative impact… We
feel that negotiating a ‘new Racetrack Ordinance’ is unacceptable.
The town’s voters overwhelmingly approved the original RTO, and we
feel that is the right way to regulate this racetrack.” Greenhalgh,
who was a member of the committee that drafted the RTO, also questioned
whether or not CMI would abide by an agreement that did not have the
force of law.
Greenhalgh
went on to say “It seems to us that CMI and its lawyers and lobbyists
are attempting to create a litigation hysteria, to intimidate the
citizens into accepting this race track on CMI’s terms.
Focus: Tamworth remains committed to insuring that the citizens
of this town not be threatened into accepting anything less than a fair,
legal and transparent process of permitting and regulation of the
construction and operation of this race track, under local control.”
He asked the Selectboard to do everything
possible to repeal SB 458, which apparently exempts the Club Motorsports
project from Tamworth’s Racetrack Ordinance. “Repealing SB 458 would
restore the regulations and controls of the RTO. We are asking you to
work with the New Hampshire Municipal Association to repeal SB 458,”
he said.
At the end of the meeting, Tamworth
resident Jim Boothby submitted a petition to the Selectboard asking them
not to call a special town meeting to vote on the noise ordinance.
Greenhalgh said later that Focus: Tamworth agrees that a special town
meeting is not necessary at this time, but “We are considering
submitting the ordinance as a warrant article for a vote at Town Meeting
next March.”
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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