The most appropriate quote:
How appropriate since the whole project is filled with hot air.
Balloon test suggested by Palmer Town Council to gauge casino hotel height
By
on June 24, 2013
PALMER — Concerns by some town councilors about the height of the hotel at the site where Mohegan Sun wants to build a resort casino prompted them to ask for a "balloon test" to help determine just how tall it would appear.
James P. Rooney, a lawyer for Connecticut-based Mohegan Sun, went to the council's June 10 meeting to discuss a request to increase the current height restriction for highway business from 50 feet to 150 feet to accommodate large-scale entertainment and conference facilities.
The casino operator wants to build a resort casino off Thorndike Street (Route 32).
"We may not need 150 feet, but 150 feet is close to what we need," Rooney said.
Rooney said Mohegan wants to be able to say in its application that it has all the zoning in place that it needs for a casino. He described the process as "setting the table" so that if Mohegan wins the lone Western Massachusetts casino license from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, it can return for a rigorous site plan and special permit review.
He added that even if the zone change is granted, the project must meet site plan requirements and the Planning Board will conduct a detailed visual impact analysis. That was when At-large Councilor Mary A. Salzmann asked about floating a balloon to determine the height of the hotel at the proposed site. Rooney said that is one way that a visual impact analysis is conducted.
But Town Manager Charles T. Blanchard said "balloon tests" are usually only done for communication tower proposals.
"I think it would be pretty hard to determine the visual impact of a casino with a several story hotel by a balloon," Blanchard said.
At-large Councilor Jason Polonsky said that if the 150-foot structure is going to be at the top of the mountain, he thinks the council owes it to the residents "to have an idea of where they are all going to see it from."
Polonsky said he does not feel confident making a decision on this issue without a "visual."
Blanchard said the Gaming Commission has made it clear that it wants to make sure that casino applicants have no zoning issues that cannot be resolved. This issue will be revisited again at the July meeting.
Blanchard later said that conducting balloon tests are more specific to site plan requests, not zone changes.
Town Planner Linda G. Leduc, interviewed after the meeting, said at this point, conducting a balloon test would not be appropriate, and that zoning amendments need to stay broad in perspective. Leduc, in a memo, also wrote that zoning already effectively addresses the right to construct a 150 foot building.
The Planning Board, which held its own hearing on the height change, recommended that the council approve the request by Mohegan.
The council also held a public hearing for a zone change requested by Northeast Realty for a 3-acre parcel on Thorndike Street. Northeast is leasing the land to Mohegan for a casino. Northeast is seeking to change the zoning from rural residential to highway business. No one spoke at the public hearing regarding the zone change.
http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2013/06/balloon_test_suggested_by_palm.html
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