Gaming Commission Visits Framingham
State legislators authorized casino gambling more than six months ago. But the commission that was appointed to oversee it still needs all the input it can get as its members prepare to embark on a process that is unprecedented in Massachusetts.
Members of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, who will be drafting regulations in the coming months, continued their tour of the state Monday with a visit to MetroWest, where they heard thoughts from planners, economic development professionals and others on mitigating casino impacts in area towns.
One developer has touted a Milford location as a contender for one of three resort-style casino licenses, but it remains unclear exactly who will get a casino license from the commission.
The state's casino law calls for casino developers to pay for measures to offset potentially costly impacts on traffic, infrastructure and public safety for the host and surrounding communities, but exactly how the surrounding area will be defined could vary in each casino proposal.
Some also expressed hope that certain parts of the existing legislation could be amended, though Stephen Crosby, the commission's chairman, said the commission doesn't intend to ask the governor to rewrite the legislation nor ask to slow down the process.
The Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) event at the Framingham Sheraton was billed as a public education forum, but it was commissioners who appeared to be getting an education at the event. They listened to panelists advice on negotiating mitigation agreements and other measures, then later asked for further clarification on some points.
Local government was the largest audience contingent. More than half of the people in attendance were elected or appointed officials from communities across the state. They looked on as panelists warned the commission that some towns are likely unprepared to properly handle negotiations with a casino developer.
And they asked commissioners to recognize both immediate and future impacts on local resources and budgets when drafting the casino regulations that will eventually be used to assess and award casino licenses.
"The impacts, while they may be the greatest in the host community, will not only affect the host community," said Marc Draisen, executive director of the MAPC and panel moderator.
The Benefits Of Experience
Mary Kay Peck, a planning and management consultant, shared with the commission her experience from her tenure as city manager of Henderson, Nev., a suburb of Las Vegas.
During Peck's 14 years there, three casinos opened in Henderson, the first in 1995 and the third in 2009.
Each one was better than the last, Peck said, because local officials learned from their mistakes.
When the first hotel was built, developers were required to pay for additional road lanes to accommodate traffic, but local officials underestimated the traffic that would result.
"Traffic was and still is horrendous, despite adding additional lanes," Peck said.
The casino was also geared more toward locals rather than tourists and the hotel that came with it was unremarkable, she said.
But by the time Henderson got its third major casino, a resort-style facility nine miles south of the Las Vegas strip, the developer paid for a new fire station, land for a police station and other mitigation.
The lesson learned, Peck said, was "service impacts are substantial."
"They are extremely significant and they don't go away," she said. "The commission in Massachusetts only has one chance to get it right."
She also warned that towns need to know what they want from a casino developer ahead of time and be prepared to deal with savvy negotiators.
Vera Kolias, a prinicipal planner with the Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Agency in Worcester, told the commission that it should use agencies like hers as a resource because they have helped communities map out their future land-use plans.
"You don't want to make this up as you go," Kolias said. "Fundamentally, this is going to change a community."
Other provisions urged by panelists included: setting up claw back mechanisms if developers do not follow through on their promises; performing an in-depth study of a potential host community prior to the construction of a casino to use as a baseline for future economic conditions; requiring hefty bonds from developers to ensure they don't renege on any promises; and analyzing traffic impact studies with a wary eye, as the numbers could affect the money developers will be required to pay in mitigation costs.
Image credit: freedigitalphotos.net
Correction: The original version of this story incorrectly spelled the name of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council.
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