FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Focus: Tamworth spokesperson:
Charles Greenhalgh
is currently unavailable.

Please call

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

Steve Gaal, steering committee member
603 284 7183

Focus: Tamworth appeals CMI wetlands dredge-and-fill permit

(TAMWORTH, NH, August 18, 2004)

Focus: Tamworth today filed a “request for reconsideration” with the NH Department of Environmental Services (DES). DES granted a conditional wetlands dredge-and-fill permit to Club Motorsports Inc (CMI) on July 29. New Hampshire statutes allow any party that disagrees with a permitting decision to file such a request. The Focus: Tamworth request was submitted on behalf of more than thirty Tamworth property owners.

Club Motorsports wants to build a 242-acre private racetrack facility for fast cars and motorcycles on the north face of Mt Whittier in Tamworth.

The request is the first step in an appeal of the DES decision. The DES now has 30 days to grant or deny the request for reconsideration and to rule on the specifics of the Focus: Tamworth challenge.

According to NH statutes, reasons for a reconsideration request may include information that was not submitted with the permit application or was not brought out in the hearing, or elements of the process that the party bringing the appeal considers unreasonable or unlawful.

“Our appeal is based on a variety of grounds,” said Sherry Young, an attorney with the firm of Rath, Young and Pignatelli in Concord, which is pursuing the appeal on behalf of Focus: Tamworth. Among them:

· There was no opportunity for public comment on the significant plan revisions that CMI made after DES requested changes in May.

· CMI increased rather than decreased its wetlands impact. When the wetlands were re-examined in May, there were found to be more than the original delineation indicated, and the redesigned track crosses streams or wetlands 17 times instead of the previous 14. DES requested that impacts be decreased, not increased.

· CMI failed to present realistic alternative sites for the development, as the law requires.

· The permit was issued prematurely, before all effects to wetlands from construction of the project were considered.

· Several important issues raised by the Tamworth Conservation Commission, including stormwater management, the effect of runoff on abutters and the impact of increased water flow on stream banks near the project, were addressed by deferring to the Site Specific process.

· The land that CMI proposed for off-site mitigation does not meet the requirements of the law. The parcel is more than 65% wetlands that are already be protected under current laws. The proposed “mitigation” does not protect more than a few acres of new land.

· DES failed to consider the impacts of the project as a whole on recreation-based tourism, the aesthetic interests of the general public and the risk of MtBE and other gasoline contamination of the Ossipee Aquifer and private drinking water supplies throughout the region.

The DES may choose to hold a hearing before it decides whether or not to reconsider.

There are several more possible steps in the appeal process, including a hearing before the NH Wetlands Council. The Wetlands Council includes the commissioners of the NH departments of Resources and Economic Development, Fish and Game, Transportation, State Planning, and Safety, plus seven members appointed by the governor. The appointed members include a conservation commission member, an elected town official, natural resource experts and members of the construction and marine industries.

The Wetlands Council’s decision can be appealed to the Carroll County Superior Court, and then to the New Hampshire Supreme Court. Either the Wetlands Council or the courts can instruct DES to deny the permit or to impose additional conditions.

This filing will make it more difficult for CMI to begin construction on its proposed racetrack.

“This is a lengthy process,” said Charles Greenhalgh, Focus: Tamworth spokesperson. “We have been told it can take as long as a year, and will certainly take several months. Throughout the permitting process, Focus: Tamworth will continue to support careful and fair regulations that protect Tamworth’s economic and natural resources.”

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 appeal document is available on request from Focus: Tamworth.