Bill, found these zrticles in the locals papers.

***************************

Conway Daily Sun

8/24/2004

CMI withdraws application for planning board permit
Developer says it won't slow down race track
David Carkhuff

TAMWORTH—Club Motorsports Inc., announced Monday that it is withdrawing its application to the Tamworth Planning Board for a special-use permit under Tamworth's wetlands ordinance. A hearing was scheduled for Wednesday, but now, without an application, it's unlikely the planning board will meet to conduct its review.
The application was submitted June 17, as part of the project review and permitting process for Club Motorsports to construct Valley Motorsports Park, a three-mile racecourse where people can operate cars and motorcycles.
Scott Tranchemontagne, spokesman for Club Motorsports, said the decision to withdraw the application was specific only to this permit and did not hamper the overall project.
"Everything remains on course, the project is still moving forward, in fact we continue to work with the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on those permits. We simply realized in this process that our current application as it was submitted ought to be withdrawn, and we want to look at our options moving forward," he said. "We're not saying anything about the process overall."
CMI President and CEO Stephan Condodemetraky agreed in a press release that the application withdrawal was based on new information.
“Based on some new information and further research, we believe we have made an application to the Planning Board that exceeds our permitting needs, and we are withdrawing it at this present time,” he said. “We are currently reviewing our options and determining if and or when we need to return to the planning board.”
Tamworth Planning Board uanimously had voted to schedule a new hearing on Aug. 25 so planners could decide whether the track would pose a regional impact.
Kate Vachon, member of the steering committee for Focus: Tamworth, a local watchdog group, said she was nonplused by the news.
"We are very unclear about what they mean here," she said. "If they're suggesting that they don't need this permit, we certainly disagree with that. This is a racetrack built over, around and in wetlands. There's no way that they don't need this permit."
Tranchemontagne cautioned, "We're not saying anything at all about what we may or may not do in the future in respect to the planning board."
Vachon said, "If they're trying to do something else to exempt themselves from local control, we think that is outrageous and shouldn't be allowed. Who knows?
Our position is that they are definitely governed by this ordinance, and that they definitely have not shown much respect for the planning board and the conservation commission by applying and then withdrawing."
Tranchemontagne responded, "My only response is it's unfortunate that diehard opponents like Focus: Tamworth make unfounded speculations.
Asked to confirm that the group was not going to try to avoid planning board review through a legislative remedy, he said, "That's not the issue here."
Senate Bill 458, which took effect May 4, prompted an outcry from race track opponents. The law "defines private driving instruction and exhibition facilities and exempts such facilities from local regulation of motor vehicle race tracks."
Opponents saw SB 458 as a legislative end run that exempted the development from local control of the Tamworth Race Track Ordinance.
Tranchemontagne said it was a necessary clarification of local authority.
The state has already issued Club Motorsports a wetlands “dredge and fill” permit, determining that the Valley Motorsports Park will impact less than three-quarters of an acre of wetlands and will not significantly impair wetlands, surface waters, and groundwater resources, CMI points out.

********************************

8/24/2004

Focus: Tamworth launches process to appeal CMI wetlands permit
Lengthy process could take up to a year
David Carkhuff

TAMWORTH—Club Motorsports Inc. vowed that a pending appeal of its state wetlands dredge-and-fill permit will not slow down its private race track development.

"This appeal process will in no way delay our development schedule," said
Scott Tranchemontagne, spokesman for Club Motorsports.

Focus: Tamworth filed a request for reconsideration of the permit with the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services on Aug. 18. The agency granted the dredge-and-fill permit on July 29. Club Motorsports wants to build a 242-acre race track — what Tranchemontagne calls a "private driving motorsports facility" — on the north face of Mount Whittier in Tamworth.

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.

"The appeals process is a natural part of the process, and we expected Focus to appeal based on their longstanding opposition," Tranchemontagne said.

But Focus: Tamworth predicted the filing will make it more difficult for Club Motorsports to begin construction.

"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."

The Focus: Tamworth request for reconsideration of the permit was submitted on behalf of more than 30 Tamworth property owners, the group reported.

"The request is the first step in an appeal of the DES decision," the group stated.

Tranchemontagne defended the DES permit, calling it exhaustive and adding, "We provided every piece of information that was required."

"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. The grounds, Young said, include:

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

• That 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.

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

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

• That 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.

• That the land that CMI proposed for off-site mitigation does not meet the requirements of the law. The parcel is more than 65 percent wetlands that are already be protected under current laws. The proposed "mitigation" does not protect more than a few acres of new land, the group alleges.

• That 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 New Hampshire Wetlands Council, Focus: Tamworth reported. The Wetlands Council includes the commissioners of the state 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.

On separate regulatory tracks, Club Motorsports needs a site-specific or "alteration of terrain" permit from DES as well as a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers under the Clean Water Act, Section 404.

"We've very focused right now on the permitting process, the site-specific permit with DES" and the Army Corps of Engineers review, Tranchemontagne said.

Tamworth planning board decided that the project had a potential regional impact and scheduled a local hearing for 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 25, at the K.A. Brett School.