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

Citizens group will pursue appeal of DES wetlands dredge-and-fill permit

(TAMWORTH, NH, September 20, 2004)

Thirty-plus property owners who are appealing the conditional NH Department of Environmental Services (DES) wetlands dredge-and-fill permit for Club Motorsports Inc expect to take their appeal to the next level, a hearing before the NH Wetlands Council.

On August 18, the group filed a formal request to DES to reconsider its July 29 decision to grant CMI a conditional dredge-and-fill permit. On September 14, DES officially declined to do so. The group that brought the appeal has 30 days to file its request for a hearing before the Wetlands Council.

Derry, NH-based Club Motorsports Inc (CMI) wants to build a 242-acre private racetrack facility for fast cars and motorcycles on the north face of Mt Whittier in Tamworth.

“The reconsideration request was a required first step in the process,” explained Charles Greenhalgh, spokesperson for Focus: Tamworth, which has hired a group of legal, engineering and environmental experts to scrutinize the Club Motorsports proposal. “As long as we believe the facts support reconsideration or appeal, we will continue to pursue the process. The reasons for our appeal still appear convincing.”

Among the grounds for appeal:

CMI’s revised project plans increased the wetlands impacts, rather than decreasing them.

DES did not address many 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. It deferred those items for consideration during the process that approves or denies CMI’s Site Specific permit.  Focus: Tamworth contends that DES should also have deferred its decision on the dredge-and-fill permit until the Site Specific process is completed.

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 protected. The proposed “mitigation” does not protect more than a few acres of new land.

“There are many more steps to the process,” Greenhalgh said. “This is a vast undertaking, and every permit must be fully examined to insure that Tamworth is protected.”

If necessary, 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.

Greenhalgh pointed out that CMI has not yet re-submitted its application for a Special Use Permit under Tamworth’s Wetlands Ordinance. “The project clearly needs to obtain a Special Use Permit before it can start construction,” he noted. “CMI has still not explained why it submitted an application that was withdrawn just two days before a regional hearing.”

In addition, CMI needs a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and two more major permits from DES. The Army Corps of Engineers and DES will hold a joint hearing on Wednesday, October 6 at 7 PM at the K.A. Brett School in 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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