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

234 New Hampshire towns encouraged to help restore local control

Focus: Tamworth asks officials to support reversal of special-interest legislation

(TAMWORTH, NH, September 15, 2004)

In the next few days, all 234 New Hampshire cities and towns will receive letters from Focus: Tamworth encouraging them to examine and respond to the threat to local control posed by the passage earlier this year of Senate Bill 458, now RSA 287-G. The statute was written and shepherded through the legislative process by Club Motorsports Inc (CMI), specifically to exempt the developer from the oversight of Tamworth’s Racetrack Ordinance.

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

The New Hampshire Municipal Association has called the legislation “a dangerous precedent for seeking legislative relief from local regulation in pending cases where existing municipal and state appeal processes should be used to resolve disagreements.”

“In the context of Club Motorsports’ sudden withdrawal of its application for a Special Use Permit under Tamworth’s Wetlands Ordinance, the NHMA’s concern seems particularly apt,” said Charles Greenhalgh, spokesperson for Focus: Tamworth and a member of the committee that drafted Tamworth’s RTO. “Club Motorsports is apparently trying to avoid any oversight at all by the town of Tamworth.”

The letter, mailed September 15^th to the officials of each town and city in the state, explains that Tamworth created its Racetrack Ordinance (RTO) in the summer of 2003 under the authority of RSA 31:41-a and RSA 31:42, which allows municipalities to enact ordinances specifically to control “amusement parks, drive-in theaters and race tracks.” “The RTO,” the letter continues, “was drafted by a committee that included members recommended by the developers, and the developers’ representatives had considerable input into the content of the ordinance, including sections on noise levels, hours of operation, handling of fuels and more.

“The RTO went into effect October 1, 2003, when it was signed by the Tamworth selectmen. It was a warrant article at Town Meeting in March, and was affirmed by an 84% majority.

“But in the fall of 2003, soon after the RTO was signed by the selectmen, CMI drafted SB 458, defining ‘private driving instruction and exhibition facilities,’ and exempting them from regulation under RSA 31:41-a and RSA 31:42. Not coincidentally, the ‘private driving instruction and exhibition facilities’ exactly match the specifications of the race track that CMI wants to build in Tamworth. In January 2004, CMI persuaded Senator John Gallus of Berlin to bring their bill before the Senate Transportation Committee. After a very quiet hearing, the bill was included on the Senate’s “consent calendar” of items that the committees recommend for passage without discussion. It passed both houses as a consent item and was signed by Governor Benson in March, and became effective in May. The Carroll County representatives were never consulted or even informed of the legislation,” the letter says.

“This legislation was written to exempt one special interest from regulation by the town,” said Focus: Tamworth spokesperson Charles Greenhalgh, who was on the committee that wrote Tamworth’s RTO. “This blatant flaunting of local control leave all towns in New Hampshire open to exploitation by this kind of development. Even towns with zoning are vulnerable unless their zoning ordinance specifically prohibits ‘private driving instruction and exhibition facilities.’”

Focus: Tamworth is asking town officials to support local representatives Harry Merrow and  David Babson, who, if re-elected in November, intend to introduce legislation to restore local control of this kind of facility. Officials have been asked to request that their own reps sponsor or support Babson and Merrow’s legislation. The letter also asks towns to contact the New Hampshire Municipal Association to express their outrage at the loss of local control.

William Farnum of Tamworth, who is running for NH State Senate in District 3, has also pledged to sponsor legislation to restore local control and overturn RSA 287-G.

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: text of the Focus: Tamworth letter