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Club Motorsports, FOCUS, and the Town of Tamworth took their battle to the New Hampshire Supreme Court once again. Despite the conflict of interest that one might envision when trying to solve one’s problems with government via the government court system, recent cases continue to stack up in favor of CMI and property owners in Tamworth.

The bottom line is that either CMI will be back starting fresh with the Planning Board if the trial court’s decision is upheld (the Supreme Court’s decision is pending as of this writing), or they’re in for being tied up in court even longer. On its face, it would seem that government-control types win either way, and the Planning Board will simply do a better and more thorough job of hosing property owners such as CMI the second time through. That said, it’s clear that CMI sees the recent trial court ruling as a victory (words like “unlawful” and “unreasonable” are stated in the court order with regard to the Planning Board), and the recent Supreme Court appeal has shown their opposition to be fretting about the “logisitical nightmare” and “impossibility” involved in the Planning Board complying with the trial court’s decision.

Planning Board member David Little was present for the oral arguments given at the NH Supreme Court, ostensibly there to support Club Motorsports in their defense of their right to utilize their property, as he himself has gone above and beyond even CMI and engaged in some brave and noble civil disobedience, openly flouting the town government and ignoring the Tamworth Wetlands Conservation Ordinance on his own property. [Just kidding folks, Dave regularly speaks out in support of the TWCO and gleefully participates in the enforcement of it. (Well, with as much glee as Dave has in him, which doesn't strike one as very much.) A bit of a double standard for Planning Board members, eh?]

Also of note is that for one of the largest matters of litigation that the town has ever seen, the town was not represented in front of the Supreme Court. Richard Sager, the town’s attorney, either intentionally or through ineptitude, reportedly didn’t get paperwork filed properly with the court and the attorney for FOCUS was the sole representation for the town – seems to be not quite on the up-and-up to let an attorney with separate clients and interests be the sole representation in front of the NH Supreme Court in a suit that the town is named in. [Political joke of the day: What do you call a lawyer with an I.Q. of 50? ....Senator.]

What this all serves to illustrate is the lengthy and expensive disaster for local families and businesses that one small land-use ordinance, such as Tamworth’s Wetlands Conservation Ordinance, causes in the hands of a Planning Board. Lot line rearrangements and Tamworth’s ecosystem would get along just fine without their wise “planning” every month, and did for many decades when Tamworth didn’t have a Planning Board. The Planning Board clearly doesn’t think they have enough power and control since they are mobilizing yet again to get more land use regulations pushed through this year; the abuse of CMI is a shining example of why that ought not happen.