CLF and Riverfront Landing to file brief for appeal in asphalt plant case to Supreme Court

There has been widespread opposition toward the asphalt plant throughout the community in Nashua, with many having spoken out at public hearings, including members of CLF

Citizens opposed to the proposed asphalt plant on Temple Street holding signs. (Courtesy of Granite
State Organizing Project)

Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) and Riverfront Landing will file a joint brief for appeal to the NH Supreme Court on June 13, after the court denied their motions to intervene in the Greenridge asphalt plant case.

A proposal for the construction of the asphalt plant at 145 Temple St. was presented to the Nashua planning board in 2022. The board unanimously denied the proposal in June 2023, saying that the proposal was not consistent with the city’s master plan or the uses of the East Hollis Street Corridor, and that it would not coexist with the surrounding residential uses through its odor and noise emissions and excessive traffic generation.

Before it was denied, Heidi Trimarco – a staff attorney for CLF – said CLF, Granite State Organizing Project (GSOP) and members of the community had been working together to spread the word about the proposed plant.

There has been widespread opposition toward the asphalt plant throughout the community in Nashua, with many having spoken out at public hearings, including members of CLF.

“We advocated before the planning board for a lot of things that were important to [their] decision to deny the local approvals.” Trimarco said.

CLF, GSOP and other community partners also provided language access interpretation services at meetings and public hearings after the city declined to do so, since the proposed asphalt plant is in an immigrant neighborhood, according to Marina Vaz, CLF’s environmental justice community advocate.

After the planning board’s denial, Greenridge appealed the decision to the NH Supreme Court. The following month, CLF and Riverfront filed motions to intervene to be able to be a party in the matter to defend the planning board’s decision.

After the motions to intervene were denied, CLF and Riverfront filed a joint Rule 7 Notice of Discretionary Appeal with the Supreme Court in April of this year.

“We brought evidence to the planning board describing how the community is both more diverse and more vulnerable than a lot of other communities in New Hampshire and already bears an unfair burden of a lot of environmental harms,” Trimarco said of the neighborhood surrounding the proposed asphalt plant site. “I think the developer did not anticipate how engaged the community would be and how strong the community opposition would be to the asphalt plant. I don’t think they anticipated such a strong reaction from the community.”

On May 14, the NH Supreme Court agreed to hear CLF and Riverfront Landing’s appeal. The brief is scheduled to be filed tomorrow.

This articles was co-produced by Nashua Ink Link, Nashua Digital and Granite State News Collaborative and shared with partners in The Granite State News Collaborative, such as NH Business Review. For more information, visit collaborativenh.org.