"It's still in a process of reviewing all of our options with regard to the local permit. I think it's important to note we will continue to move forward with the project. The court decision isn't going to stop us. Our plan is to build and operate Valley Motorsports Park," he said.
Club Motorsports withdrew an application for a town wetlands permit it submitted in 2004, and eventually said it would not be applying for the permit because it did not have to. Focus:Tarnworth, a local group that supports regulations to protect Tamworth's economic and natural resources, petitioned the court to require the company to apply for a permit. The case was decided by Rockingham Superior Court Judge Kenneth R. McHugh, who found that Club Motorsports must apply for a special use permit from the Tamworth Planning Board under the town of Tamworth's wetlands ordinance. In a court order Dec. 5, McHugh said the town wetlands ordinance could be more restrictive than state and federal permits the company had already received, and therefore the company's argument that it has already gone through a more strict application process.
"We're not attempting to get out of an area of control I think we've gone through quite and arduous process to get where we are," Hoenscheid said. "We want to get under construction as soon as possible. We'll follow the rules and regulations that apply to our facility"
He said the company's board of directors could decide to apply to the town for a permit or appeal the court's decision. "I would say it's definitely possible," he said, that the company might submit a permit application to the town as its next step.
If the company appeals the decision, he said it is not clear whether the appeal should go back to the court itself or to the N.H. State Supreme Court. "We're asking the court for a little clarification on that point," he said.
Other permits in order
Club Motorsports has faced a number of challenges to permits it has received for the project. But Hoenscheid said most have been resolved. The company has received a wetlands permit, water quality certificate and site specific alteration of terrain permit from the state, as well as a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The Army Corps permit was an especially rigorous process, Hoenscheid said, taking 18 months of review. He said only about 1 percent of the projects in New Hampshire are required to get an individual permit from the corps. That permit included reviews of several sound studies, studies of secondary impacts and an extensive survey (1,500 man hours) of historical resources. "We wouldn't have gotten a corps permit if we hadn't passed in that area," he said. The corps permit has not been appealed, and Hoenscheid said he believes any such appeal would be unsuccessful.
Hoenscheid noted in the state' wetlands permit, N.H. Department of Environmental Services (DES) concluded that the project would not have significant impact on wetlands or surface ground-water. The wetlands decision was challenged twice, he said, and DES found for Club Motorsports each time.
Focus: Tamworth also appealed the water quality certificate and, this fall, won a settlement with Club Motorsports about the storage and distribution of fuel at the facility. Hoenscheid said the company hopes to get the town permit issue resolved soon and begin construction.
Meanwhile, he said, the company hopes to establish a stronger presence hi Tamworth, perhaps in the spring, by opening an administration and sales building on the property "We want to open an office, give tours, move ahead with the work. We look forward to the start of construction and the eventual operation of the facility," he said.
