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

CMI granted conditional dredge-and-fill approval

More permits needed before construction can begin

(TAMWORTH, NH, July 29) The wetlands dredge-and-fill permit that the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (DES) approved today for Club Motorsports Inc (CMI) of Derry does not clear the way for construction to begin on the project.

CMI is proposing to build a private racetrack for fast cars and motorcycles on the north face of Mt Whittier in Tamworth.

“We expected DES might approve the application with numerous conditions,” said Charles Greenhalgh, Focus: Tamworth spokesperson, “but we do not believe that CMI has satisfied the DES requirements under the law. We are examining the permit language carefully and looking at our options.”

There is a 20-day window during which interested parties may request that DES reconsider its approval of the permit.

“A number of issues raised in the public hearing, and many of the objections voiced by the Tamworth Conservation Commission, are not addressed in this ruling. We are looking closely at the adequacy of the conditions that DES has set,” Greenhalgh said.

The permit was issued with 36 different conditions. Among them is approval under the DES Site Specific Program, which considers issues of soil erosion and stormwater runoff. A new set of track plans -- the fifth redesign of the track since the beginning of 2004 -- was submitted to DES on Monday, July 26. “It is likely that DES officials in the Site Specific Program will need several more weeks to review these new plans and submit their findings,” Greenhalgh noted. Eight of the Tamworth Conservation Commission comments were referred to the Site Specific Program.

The permit requires CMI to place a conservation easement on a 107-acre parcel of land in Sandwich as “mitigation” in exchange for some of the wetlands it will destroy with its proposed track. “We have said all along that any mitigation should occur in Tamworth, the town that will be most affected by the proposed development. We expect that the Tamworth Conservation Commission will also be looking closely at that element of the permit,” Greenhalgh said. No conservation easement holder has yet been named.

“CMI can’t begin construction until they have all their major permits in hand. The dredge-and-fill permit is only one of more than a dozen they need, and they still have a long way to go. The DES Site Specific Program ruling is weeks away. The Army Corps of Engineers’ comment period is still open. And the Tamworth Planning board hearing on Tamworth’s Wetlands Ordinance is now scheduled late in August,” he said. “It’s hard to see how CMI can begin construction before next spring.”

The comment period on the Army Corps of Engineers permit application is open until August 13. Comments may be sent to Mike Hicks, New England District US Army Corps of Engineers, 696 Virginia Road, Concord, MA 01742-2751, michael.c.hicks@nae02.usace.army.mil. Hicks’ phone is 978.318.8157 and his fax is 978.318.8303.

The Tamworth Planning Board will hold a public hearing on CMI’s application for a Special Use Permit under Tamworth’s Wetlands Ordinance on Wednesday August, 25 at 7 PM at the K.A. Brett School in Tamworth. The Planning Board has designated the proposed racetrack as a project with regional impact. The hearing is open to residents of surrounding towns as well as Tamworth.

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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[note to editors: the DES letter and permit is available from Focus: Tamworth.]