Lawsuit threatened over Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe casino site
Wednesday, June 6, 2012The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe is already facing the threat of litigation for its proposed casino in Taunton, Massachusetts.
The tribe plans a $500 million facility on a 145-acre site in the city. An attorney, however, claims a deed restriction on the land prohibits gaming.
Residents of Taunton will go the polls on June 9 to say whether they want to host the casino.
Get the Story:
Casino opponents threaten lawsuit (The Cape Cod Times 6/6)
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Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe continues negotiations for compact (6/5)
http://64.38.12.138/IndianGaming/2012/025005.asp
Casino opponents threaten lawsuit
Taunton casino opponents, outgunned monetarily in Saturday’s citywide election, are seeking to torpedo the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe’s casino plans through a possible 10-taxpayer lawsuit.
Lesley Rich, a Somerset attorney hired by casino critic Frank Lagace, said the 145 acres the tribe wants to develop in the Liberty and Union Industrial Park are governed by a deed restriction that may not allow the casino project. Rich said he is still weeks away from filing a lawsuit, but acknowledged Tuesday’s press release was timed to influence Saturday’s election.
“I’m still researching it,” he said Tuesday.
Initial inquiries with the city and Taunton Development Corp., which owned some of the land, indicate they believe those restrictions don’t apply if the land is taken into federal trust, Rich said.
“We want people to know there is this issue coming up,” he said. “This is an industrial park, and it’s not just a slam dunk.”
Voters will go to the polls Saturday to vote on whether they support the casino in East Taunton. The Mashpee tribe has funded a pro-casino group, Together for Taunton, with $300,000 to get out supporters, while opponents have raised less than $2,000.
“We’re doing this to rattle the cage of the mayor and city council and say, ‘You can’t do this,’” Lagace said. “It’s a violation of the law and what’s best for the people.”
The covenants for the industrial park were created to assure “development of the premises as a garden-type industrial park,” according to the deed restriction. One of the covenants requires the land be used only for “corporate headquarters, manufacturing, processing, wholesaling, distribution and jobbing or warehousing.” Retail outlets and cafeterias are only permitted as “accessory uses,” according to the document.
Rich has a history of attempting to block the Mashpee tribe. In Fall River, he filed suit on behalf of 10 taxpayers over a deed restriction on 300 acres the tribe was seeking to develop. In that case, the restriction prohibited a casino on the land. Eventually, the tribe and the city decided to move on, in part, because the state failed to legalize casinos at the time.
Rich is also an attorney for the Pocasset Wampanoag, a state-recognized tribe that has argued that both the Mashpee and Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) are invading their historical territory.
Taunton Mayor Thomas Hoye Jr. declined to comment on the legal questions raised by Rich, but said he doesn’t believe the legal threat will affect Saturday’s vote. “I do find it interesting who (attorney Rich) represents, and I leave it at that,” he said referring to his association with the Pocasset tribe.
Time for a new mayor, Taunton?
Mashpee tribe leaders, through spokeswoman Brooke Scannell, declined to comment.
Lagace said he first identified the deed restrictions two months ago as a possible way to derail the project. Lagace has been an outspoken critic of the project saying it will be detrimental to the East Taunton neighborhoods in the vicinity of routes 24 and 140.
“My goal is to stop this thing now,” he said. “I don’t want to have to deal with this like the people of Middleboro did for five years.”
In his press release, Rich said the development authority should not have sold the property to the tribe without going through the proper economic development procedures. He also argues that the land should have been put out to competitive bid, since the tribe seeks to use it for something other than the approved uses.
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