FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Focus: Tamworth spokesperson:
Charles Greenhalgh
603 356-5439 x516
Cell: 603 321-6615
Home: 603 323-3908

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

Tamworth Planning Board hearing on racetrack postponed to August 25

Board determines that CMI’s proposed racetrack may have regional impact; surrounding towns and the regional planning commission must be invited to present their views

(TAMWORTH, NH, July 21)  About 150 people turned out for a hearing in Tamworth tonight, but they didn’t get one. Instead, the Tamworth Planning Board rescheduled its hearing on an application by Club Motorsports Inc (CMI) for a Special Use Permit under Tamworth’s Wetlands Ordinance to August 25th.

Club Motorsports wants to build a private race track for fast cars and motorcycles on the north face of Mt Whittier in Tamworth. CMI must have its Special Use Permit in hand -- along with more than a dozen other permits -- before it can begin construction.

At the beginning of the meeting, attorney Laurel Spector, acting for Town Council Tim Bates, read a letter from CMI lawyer Susan Duprey requesting that two planning board members, Tom Cleveland and Herb Cooper, recuse themselves from voting on the CMI application. Both had signed letters more than a year ago supporting Tamworth’s proposed Emergency Temporary Zoning ordinance; attorney Duprey claimed that meant both were biased against CMI.

Attorney Sherry Young, representing Focus: Tamworth, presented a letter asking that Alexandra Cook, who was recently appointed to represent the Tamworth Selectboard as a voting member of the Planning Board, also recuse herself. Attorney Young pointed out that a trust of which Cook is the beneficiary sold land to CMI, and that an additional land sale was under discussion, giving Cook a financial interest in the success of the project. She also argued that Cook could not legally represent the Selectboard because she was not an ”administrative” town official, as required by New Hampshire statues. Cook was defeated when she ran for a seat on the Planning Board in the March town elections.

All three members refused to recuse themselves voluntarily, and the board declined to vote on whether or not to request the recusals. Several members of the public spoke against the recusals. “I want people on the town boards who represent me. I voted for these people for a reason,” said Tamworth resident Joe Binsack. Chair David Goodson ruled that the meeting would go forward with all members voting.

Under New Hampshire state law, when a project applying for a permit has potential regional impact, the planning boards of all affected towns must be treated as abutters and invited to comment on the application. When the board took up the question of regional impact, attorney Duprey suggested that there was none, and urged the board to continue with its hearing on the application. Goodson agreed, saying that it would be too bad to bring everybody out again on another warm summer night.

Speaking for Focus: Tamworth, attorney Young objected to the idea of moving forward with the hearing. She read a letter to the Planning Board dated July 9^th which said that the board had not allowed the requisite 15 days between when the application was filed -- June 22 -- and the June 23 meeting at which the application was declared complete and the hearing was announced. She also said that insufficient notice of the hearing was given to abutters and other towns.

Blair Folts of the Green Mountain Conservation Group (www.gmcg.org), which monitors water quality in the Ossipee Watershed, pointed to the importance and widespread impact of the Ossipee Aquifer as an indication of the project’s regional impact. A significant recharge area for the aquifer would be affected by the proposed CMI development.

Tamworth resident Peggy Johnson pointed to several ways in which the application did not conform to the intent of the Tamworth Wetlands Ordinance. The ordinance, she pointed out, specifically states its intent to “…protect potential water supplies and existing aquifers..and aquifer recharge areas."

Carl McNall of Sandwich spoke on behalf of the nearby towns, asking that the board allow other affected towns to give their official input. 

Board member Herb Cooper moved that the board determine that the project has the potential for regional impact. The motion passed with no dissenting votes. Chair David Goodson announced that the hearing would continue on August 25^th, the date of the next Planning Board meeting. 

“We’re glad that the Planning Board recognizes the regional impact of this development,” said Charles Greenhalgh, Focus: Tamworth spokesperson. “We look forward to presenting our views on the Special Use Permit application on August 25^th.”

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-

Additional information for editors: 
Text of the Tamworth Wetlands Ordinance 
Letter on recusal of Alexandra Cook
Letter on improper meeting notice