Claremont
The speedway owners want to put in a campground for recreational vehicles with 149 sites that would be rented for an entire season, either winter or summer. Current zoning for the 66-acre property in the rural residential zone does not allow for such use, so a variance is needed.
Opponents, mostly residents on Bowker Street and Thrasher Road, came out again on Monday night, as they have since the application was first filed, arguing the campground would disrupt their peace and quiet, adversely affect property values and result in traffic and safety issues.
“Just keep in mind, this is a residential area,” Bowker Street resident Heather McNamara said. “You live in residential areas. If there were 25 or 30 acres there, are you going to say no to them? Not if you say yes to (speedway owners). What is this going to start?”
Richard Uchida, a Concord attorney representing the speedway owners, addressed some of the concerns that have been mentioned by opponents, including the water supply. Uchida said his client was willing to accept as a condition that the speedway construct a line to the city’s water main on Main Street and hook into the city water supply to avoid the possibility of ruining wells.
He also said stock cars used at the speedway would not be repaired or worked on at the campground, and if the ZBA wanted to require that a campground manager live on site, the speedway would agree to that as well.
The new driveway into the property from Thrasher Road also has been shifted to provide a 500-foot sight line coming from either direction.
“The driveway is now in a perfect spot,” Concord traffic engineer Steve Pernaw told the board.
One resident, Rev Ford, worried that if the seasonal campground concept, in which people would rent a site for the entire season, didn’t work, the owners would then seek a variance for transient use, meaning for a shorter period, perhaps a few days. Uchida didn’t think that would be necessary but if so, the owners would have to come back with a new application, he said.
Resident Tom Dombrowski spoke in support of the variance, saying it would be a “big help” to the city, but he was in the minority.
Thrasher Road resident Chuck Egbert, who has been one of the project’s most vocal critics, said approval of the variance will ruin the way of life in the area and cause safety hazards for pedestrians.
“There is going to be constant noise 24/7 in one of the quietest, safest neighborhoods in the city,” Egbert said. “This variance should not be allowed. It is going to destroy a rural residential neighborhood.”
If the ZBA approves the variance, site plan approval from the Planning Board still is required.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.
