Sununu, key lawmakers back Mount Washington summit assessment
Aug. 23—CONCORD — Gov. Chris Sununu and key legislative leaders endorsed the state paying for an environmental impact assessment of future development and increased tourism on the summit of Mount Washington while concerns were raised about a proposed new project.
The "six or seven-figure expense" was a key provision of a draft master plan that the Mount Washington Commission took public comment on for the second day at a hearing in Concord.
The board met Monday night in Conway.
The commission is likely to approve that plan at its next meeting on Oct. 7 in the Peabody Lodge on Cannon Mountain in Franconia.
Commission Chairman and Senate Majority Leader Jeb Bradley, R-Wolfeboro, stressed that the commission has no authority over a controversial new plan that would turn parked rail cars into a seasonal hotel and restaurant along the Cog Railroad near the summit.
The commission's state law only gives it oversight of the "state property" atop Mount Washington.
During brief comments Tuesday, Sununu alluded to the fact some environmentalists aren't embracing the Mount Washington Cog Railway's plan to build two 500-foot-long platforms for these sleeping and dining cars near the spot where hiker Lizzie Bourne lost her life in 1855.
"What is being proposed and discussed is very exciting — not that everyone is going to agree," Sununu said.
Broad powers sought
Wiltrud Mott-Smith of Loudon urged the commission to consider asking the Legislature to give it more of a say on private development near the mountaintop.
"I am beginning to think we need legislation that does give the commission deeper responsibility than mere consultation," Mott-Smith said.
The Executive Council in June approved a memorandum of understanding for this "Lizzie Station" development with the Cog Railway.
Howie Wemyss, longtime general manager of the Mount Washington Auto Road, said he couldn't understand why the commission had "no input" before that council vote.
"How did it make sense with no input from the Mount Washington Commission?" Wemyss asked his fellow commissioners.
Sarah Stewart, commissioner of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, said her agency sought "feedback from everybody," and Cog officials changed their plan when earlier ones attracted strong opposition.
"This isn't just a moment in time," Stewart said.
No approval of leases
Mount Washington Cog Railway owner Wayne Presby noted the commission had no role when the auto road received a 15-year lease for a parking lot near the summit at a cost of $1 a year.
"I find it interesting you raise this question when your use of a parking lot at the summit... wasn't discussed by the commission," Presby said.
Parks and Recreation Division Director Phil Bryce said the commission has never approved these private leases. Park officials brought the Lizzie Station concept to a meeting of the group last spring, he said.
The draft report says there will "always be a physical limit" to the number of people at the summit and urges the Auto Road and Cog Railway to look at ways to limit their visitors.
For safety's sake, Roy Schweiker, a retired engineer from Concord, said the park system should consider expanding someone's permit to climb the mountain to be valid for a week.
"Encouraging people to climb in rotten weather because that is when their permit (is for) is not a good choice," Schweiker said.
As for the environmental impact assessment, Bradley said it cost $200,000 to do one for the small Yankee Building on the summit that houses telecommunications equipment. A consultant concluded it would cost $15 million to repair or replace that structure.
"I think it is absolutely indispensable that we have an environmental assessment of the summit," Bradley said.
House Finance Committee Chairman Karen Umberger, R-Conway, said if reelected she would work with Bradley to include the assessment in the next capital budget the Legislature approves in the spring of 2023.
Zack Porter, director of Standing Trees, a Montpelier, Vermont-based public lands preservation group, said the commission should do the assessment before it adopts a new master plan.
State law requires updating the master plan for the summit every 10 years, but the last approved one was in 1971.
Porter noted a 2005 National Park Service report said the Cog Railway already has a "negative impact" on the Mount Washington hiking experience.
"In no case can I remember an assessment would come after approval of a product," Porter said.
"We have been waiting 50 years for an adjustment to the master plan. What is the rush?"
