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Senate panel rejects race track legislation
By GARRY RAYNO
Union Leader Staff
CONCORD — Tamworth residents seeking local control over a motor sports track in their community suffered a set back yesterday when a Senate committee voted 4-2 to recommend killing their proposed legislation.
The bill, House Bill 90, would have repealed last year's law that exempts "private driving instruction and exhibition facilities" from local race track ordinances.
Club Motorsports Inc. wants to build a $14 million facility off Route 25 on the side of Mt. Whittier in Tamworth with a 3.3-mile racecourse.
House Bill 90 would make it clear that selectmen have regulatory power over tracks at least two miles long.
Susan Ticehurst of Tamworth, who attended the Senate Transportation Committee meeting yesterday, said after the vote the bill would not have stopped the track from being developed.
The bill would have restored the ability of any municipality to regulate what is in their community, she said. "We want a regulated race track," Ticehurst said.
She said a race track ordinance approved by the town in 2003 covers 22 different areas beside noise including lights, hours of operation and bonding.
During the meeting, several committee members said the Legislature made a decision last year, and now wants to go back on its word. "We should not go back on what we said last year," said Sen. Chuck Morse, R-Salem.
Club Motorsports President Stephen Condodemetraky wrote a letter to the committee saying $2 million has been spent on the project since the law was passed last year. He said changing the law would send a terrible message to the business community and would keep some businesses from moving to the state.
Sen. Peter Burling, D-Cornish, said he spent an hour-and-a-half with the two sides the day before and he was optimistic that eventually they will figure out "how to live together."
"When this Legislature makes law to deal with local town issues, we make a mess of things," Burling said.
Sen. Robert Flanders, R-Amherst, said the Legislature did not take away home rule. He noted that Tamworth has had several opportunities to pass zoning ordinances, but has not.
Along with the 2003 vote to adopt a race track ordinance, the town reaffirmed that vote at its 2004 town meeting. Tamworth voted at this year's town meeting to adopt a noise ordinance that would restrict track noise to 69 decibels.
The company said the strict noise limits would prevent it from even mowing the lawn on the property. It says its own sound study showed the driving course would not affect the community of 2,600 people.
The committee's 4-2 vote went down party lines as Republicans voted to kill the bill while the two Democrats voted against killing the bill.
The bill passed the House on a 273-76 after a long debate and despite the House Municipal and County Government Committee's recommendation to kill the bill on a 14-5 vote.
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