This piece of state owned land is where the MWV Rec path is located and where a skate park is slated to go. But first a lawsuit between the town and Jim Pietrangelo is delaying the skatepark. This is parcel 235-55. The other parcel is much smaller. (Screenshot)
In recently filed court documents, a Bartlett man who is suing New Hampshire over Department of Transportation land the town of Conway wants to use as a skate park has accused the state of being dishonest.
The Kevin Peare Memorial Skatepark is proposed for a state-owned parcel just north of Walmart on Hemlock Lane, which is also the southern terminus of the North Conway Rec Path.
Jim Pietrangelo of Bartlett, an attorney who has voiced opposition to the skate park in several letters to the editor, filed suit in Carroll County Superior Court in May, complaining that the state, using federal dollars, paid nearly $2 million for land in Conway that was meant for the now defunct bypass project but which is now undervalued and made available for the skate park and rec path at no cost.
Pietrangelo claims the state must offer the surplus land to the town/county first, then sell the parcels at fair market price. If the town wants to resell it, the land must first be offered back to the state.
Parcel 235-55 off Hemlock Lane runs parallel to the North South Road, is 46 acres and its assessed value is $220,000. A triangular parcel, 235-56, just south of Pudding Pond is 2.9 acres and assessed at $51,000.
Pietrangelo’s lawsuit seeks a jury trial, names Gov. Chris Sununu, the Executive Council, DOT Commissioner Bill Cass and DOT Administrator of Bureau of Right of Way Stephen Labonte as culpable parties.
On Sept. 3, attorneys with the N.H. Department of Justice filed a motion to dismiss on behalf of state officials on Sept. 3. The DOJ lawyers said the rec path was built in lieu of having to pay the federal government back transportation-related funds.
The lawyers said Pietrangelo lacked standing to sue.
On Nov. 1, Pietrangelo filed a document called “Suggestion of Fraud upon the Court,” which takes issue with the state’s motion to dismiss is the state’s claim, especially the part that says it’s uncertain whether the state will convey the land to the town of Conway and that the DOT isn’t playing a role in the skate park.
Pietrangelo says there’s evidence to the contrary. He quotes a letter that DOT Bureau of Right-of-Way Administrator Stephen LaBonte sent him in February 2022.
He quotes Labonte as saying, “Once the multi-use path has been completed, the multi-use path corridor will be conveyed to the town, along with any uneconomic remnant parcels. If the town has no interest in acquiring the remnant parcel at fair market value, the parcel will be marketed to the public through a real estate broker.”
Pietrangelo says LaBonte told the Federal Highway Administration “the same basic thing” back in August. He says that also in August, Deputy Town Manager Paul DegliAngeli told selectmen “the town has been invited to make application from the state in support of the skate park project.”
Thus, said Pietrangelo, there is evidence the state is planning to convey the surplus land to Conway and that the state is involved with the skate park effort.
“Yet defendants/respondents in their motion to dismiss still asserted to the court to the contrary on both points,” said Pietrangelo. “They falsely argued thusly to induce the court to dismiss Pietrangelo’s suit for lack of standing, so that the state can then promptly proceed to freely do the very thing they asserted is not about to happen: dispose of the land to the town of Conway and the private stakeholders via RSA 4:39-c for peanuts. That clearly suggests fraud by defendants/respondents on the court.”
The DOJ attorneys says Pietrangelo’s allegations are “actually baseless and taken out of context.”
The state filed a response Nov. 15 saying any suggestion of fraud should be disregarded.
The lawyers say Labonte’s 2022 letter isn’t enough to prove the DOT has a clear intent to convey land to the town and that the DOT told Pietrangelo in August 2023 that it was still considering how to dispose of the land.
“The fact is, even if the plaintiff shows NHDOT’s intent to convey under 4:39-c is certainly impending, it would not cure the defects of his complaint” said the state’s lawyers.
“Furthermore, NHDOT simply has not been involved in the planning or construction of the skate park nor has the plaintiff presented evidence showing this assertion is false. Therefore, this court should dismiss the plaintiff’s suggestion of fraud upon the court.”
A hearing is scheduled for Dec. 16 at 1 p.m. before Carroll County Superior Court Judge Mark Attorri.
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