Lawyer says group 'gave up on the court system'
NORTH HAMPTON — New Hampshire Citizens Against Loud Motorcycles (N.H. CALM) has withdrawn as an intervener in a lawsuit brought by Seacoast Motorcycles Inc., a Harley-Davidson dealership on Route 1, against the town over a controversial motorcycle noise ordinance.
The group's motion to end its involvement in the case gave no details as to the reason, but Robert Shaines, N.H. CALM's attorney, indicated the group felt being involved in this case was not the best way to work toward curtailing loud motorcycles in the area.
The Seacoast Motorcycle suit, filed in Rockingham Superior Court in July 2010, asks for a permanent injunction against enforcement of a noise ordinance that was passed by North Hampton voters almost 2-to-1 in May of that year. The ordinance requires all motorcycles operated or parked in town have a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency label on their mufflers attesting to the fact they produce sounds of no more than 80 decibels when operated normally.
Following the passage of the ordinance, North Hampton Police Chief Brian Page notified the Select Board he would not instruct his officers to enforce it because of the legal issues it raised. Page contended that because the state Legislature had passed a law setting the top noise range for a motorcycle at 106 decibels, he and his officers could face legal action if they issued tickets based on the town ordinance.
Subsequent legal opinions from the Local Government Center, town attorneys from Upton & Hatfield, and Rockingham County Attorney Jim Reams supported Page's contentions. Lawyers working for the EPA also confirmed the federal standard cannot be used to circumvent state law.
Members of N.H. CALM joined the lawsuit on the side of the town and immediately attempted to move the case to federal court in order to invoke the EPA standard. However, on Feb. 4, 2011, a federal judge sent the case back to superior court along with an order the group pay the legal fees Seacoast Motorcycles incurred in the attempt to bring the case to federal court. That amount was subsequently determined to be about $8,800.
"Without formally analyzing the issue, the court observes that N.H. CALM's claim for federal-question jurisdiction appears to be exceptionally weak," federal Judge Landya McCafferty wrote.
Shaines said Wednesday, the real reason the federal suit was rejected was because town officials did not agree to it.
"The officialdom of the town obviously did not support (NH CALM's claims)," the attorney said. "That's why the judge rejected it."
The Select Board has indicated it will wait until the conclusion of this case to determine whether the new ordinance should be enforced. As the motorcycle season gets under way, police in the area continue to enforce the legislative decibel and inspection requirements as a way of limiting noise.
N.H. CALM's counterpart in Maine, MECALM, indicated in its May 2011 bulletin that a legislative attempt to put the EPA standard into that state's laws had also failed.
"The noise task force had rejected that idea and Maine State Police Lt. Brian Scott, who chaired the task force, told the committee those labels are either missing or hard to locate on many mufflers making it an impractical enforcement tool," the bulletin reads. "MECALM still believes the labels could become part of the solution in the future, perhaps following the example of California, which will require them only on new bikes starting in the 2013 model year."