City attorney tells judge, 'You can dismiss this case'; judge says not so fast

Judge Andrew B. Livernois parsing through arguments from both sides during Thursday's hearing in Strafford Superior Court in Dover. (Rochester Voice photo)

DOVER - Exactly one year after the state's High Court reversed a Strafford Superior Court judge's ruling to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the nonprofit that owns the Rochester Fairgrounds against the City of Rochester, it appears the case is back to square one, complete with a new judge.
During a hearing on Thursday Rochester City Attorney Terence O'Rourke urged Judge Andrew B. Livernois to dismiss the Rochester Agricultural and Mechanical Association's request to amend its complaint to include damages due to the city's refusal to allow grandfathered events on the Fairgrounds, which are essential to maintaining the property, RAMA officials say.
"There are many problems in the motion to amend," O'Rourke told the judge. "You have the discretion to toss the case."
"Courts generally do let plaintiffs amend their cases," Judge Livernois replied.
In 2023 the City of Rochester, which for several years has sought to obtain the fairgrounds' 54 acres for future development, was granted a motion to dismiss RAMA's original lawsuit that claimed the city was denying permits for shows and events that the city had granted in the past.
But the state's Supreme Court on Oct. 31, 2023, reversed Strafford Superior Court Judge Mark E. Howard's decision to dismiss, noting, in part, that the city's sudden reversal of allowing grandfathered events "was motivated by the collapse in negotiations for the city's purchase of the (Fairgrounds) property."
The case then went to former Strafford Superior Court Judge Daniel E. Will, who now presides in Hillsborough Superior Court North.
Judge Livernois said during the Thursday hearing he wanted a brand new iteration of RAMA's complaint followed by a newly crafted response from the City of Rochester.
Attorney Marcia Brown of NH Brown Law PLLC, who is representing RAMA, told the judge that "we're asking for damages and a temporary injunction," referring to the city's policy in the past several years of denying nonfair events that are essential to RAMA's maintaining the property and all of the buildings, many of which need special care due to their age and status on the Historical Registry.
"They're not getting the needed revenue," Brown said.
Some of the events the city used to allow but now routinely denies include motorcycle and car races, flea markets, bull riding and concerts.
Recently the City Council voted to allow the return of flat track motorcycle racing over the objections of O'Rourke and the city's Planning Department. RAMA officials have pointed out that the City of Rochester formerly routinely approved flat track motorcycle racing at the Rochester Fairgrounds until recent years.
After the court receives the new complaint from RAMA and response from the City of Rochester, Judge Livernois said he would move forward with a hearing to determine if temporary injunctive relief is warranted pending the resolution of the lawsuit.
The judge won't be ruling on potential damages RAMA might seek from the city, however.
That would more likely come during a civil trial down the road.