TAMWORTH — Focus: Tamworth has announced that it intends to file a request for reconsideration of the Army Corps of Engineers Permit for Club Motorsports.
Last August, the corps granted the permit to build a motorsports country club, which includes a racetrack, on the side of Mt. Whittier in Tamworth.
The Army Corps of Engineers hired a sound expert to compare two sound studies for the project, one done by Tech Environmental for Club Motorsports and the other done by Harris, Miller, Miller and Hanson for the Tamworth Foundation. After reviewing a copy of the expert's report, Focus: Tamworth decided to request reconsideration of the permit, according to the organization's press release, "Based on the belief that Corps officials failed to adopt the recommendations of a sound expert hired by the Corps to advise on the noise impact of the proposed racetrack development on Mt. Whittier in Tamworth."
Focus: Tamworth spokesperson Charles Greenhalgh said, "When the Corps granted Club Motorsports' permit and accepted the noise standards proposed by the applicant, we were concerned. When we saw the Acentech report itself, we felt that we had to ask the Corps to reconsider its decision," The reconsideration request will be directed to Army Corps Attorney Michael Hicks.
Hicks said Monday he would not comment on the request for reconsideration because he has not received it yet. Once it has been received, he said, "We'll make a consideration based on the validity of what their question would be."
Jim Hoescheid, of Club Motorsports, said the company has not been contacted by the Army Corps, but believes that any challenge to the permit will be expensive and ultimately unsuccessful. "From CMI's perspective, we feel it's unfortunate that Focus: Tamworth is attempting to fight the Army Corps of Engineers. We certainly feel that the Corps did everything that was required and we are confident that the permit will stand as it is."
"If the request for reconsideration is not successful, the next level of appeal would be to the U.S. Federal District Court," Greenhalgh said. "We understand that process could take more than a year."
Lower limit recommended
In the four-page report, submitted by James Cowan of Acentech, recommended a noise limit at least as restrictive as that at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Conn., which he lists as being a drive-by limit of 89 dBA at 50 feet from the facility.
The Focus: Tamworth press release noted that the 89 dBA limit is also the trackside noise limit recommended by Harris, Miller, Miller and Hanson as one of the noise limitations for the original draft of the Tamworth Race Track Ordinance.
Cowan concluded, "Instituting a track-side noise limit that is at least as restrictive as that used at the Lime Rock Park facility is a practical compromise to have the proposed facility peacefully coexist with the Tamworth residential community."
The Army Corps of Engineers approved a permit for Club Motorsports that includes higher noise limits. As outlined in the operation plan for the facility, which is part of the application submitted to the Army, individual vehicles would be limited to 99 dBA at 50 feet from the source, as well as setting overall average limits of 92 dBA, "based upon a range of vehicles on the roadcourse with an Lmax value at 50 feet of 99 dBA (high range), 92 dBA (midrange) and 85 dBA (low range) respectively.
Hoenscheid said there were inaccuracies in Cowan's report, including mistakenly reporting that the facility would be open year round, and oversimplifying the sound limits at Lime Rock. He further said Club Motorsports provided five or six other facilities for comparison as well, and none are mentioned.
Critical of CMI study
Cowen said the credentials of both Tech Environmental and Harris, Miller, Miller and Hanson engineers make them capable of providing credible opinions, but added, "Their conclusions about the potential impact of the project on the community are diametrically opposed. The main reasons for this difference in opinion are that each used different modeling programs to predict the noise levels with the project and each used different criteria to judge the acceptability of the noise in the community."
In his report, Cowan focused primarily on the sound study done by Tech Environmental.
He discounted the study, noting that he was directed by the Army Corps of Engineers to evaluate the facility as a racetrack, and saying the Federal Highway Administration Traffic Noise Model used by Tech Environmental was "not appropriate or adequate for modeling racetrack noise."
He further discounted use of Environmental Protection Agency noise guidelines used in the study as being old and out of date, and "based on potentials for hearing loss and activity interference, [and] based on studies of densely populated areas, and not intended to be used as regulatory standards," and that the guidelines "do not consider potential annoyance caused by the variation in noise levels that would be occurring from the acceleration and deceleration of vehicles using a racecourse on a daily basis." Appropriate criteria, he said, would include references to local noise regulations and guidelines used at other racetracks, like Lime Rock.
"The frequency content and the duration of noise events that could be caused by this facility will sound like no other sound sources in the area. Without appropriate limits, this will change the environment of the Tamworth area," Cowan wrote.
