CMI Receives Approval to Build from ACOE

TAMWORTH, N.H. (AP) — A developer has been cleared by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to build a controversial private motorsports club off Route 25.

Club Motorsports, whose $28 million project has triggered opposition from community members who fear the track will create noise and environmental problems, said the permit was issued following 18 months of review.

"We and our environmental experts and engineers have spent more than 6,000 hours working to develop and propose a project that is sensitive to the environment," Lloyd Dahmen, the company's president, said in a written release.

"Receiving the Army Corps' permission to proceed is a validation of our efforts to be environmentally sensitive and shows our company's commitment to the entire permit process," he said.

The project calls for a 3.3-mile, 18-turn, European-style road course for use by private drivers and motorcyclists. Company officials have called it a motorsports country club.

But the project has stirred considerable controversy.

In March, Tamworth residents opposed to the track approved a measure muffling the noise it could produce. Club Motorsports called the move an activist swipe at development and was looking into the legality of the measure.

And last month, a Tamworth man sued the town selectmen, saying they violated the state's Right-to-Know law when they prepared their testimony in support of the park.

William Farnum said selectmen made a series of critical town decisions behind closed doors. He also accuses the board of secrecy in its dealings with state lawmakers and lobbyists working for Club Motorsports.

The town has said the board did nothing wrong.