It is unimaginable that this comes as a surprise to Foxwoods/Nunes.
It is unconscionable that a 24/7/365 Predatory Operation will be 600 FEET from homes.
Milford casino plan moves closer to homes
Resident Tom Russ expresses his concerns about a casino to Milford Selectmen Dino DeBartolomeis, Brian Murray, and William Buckley as they tour a neighborhood in the area adjacent to the proposed casino site on Whispering Pine Drive in Milford last week.
MILFORD —
The proposed Foxwoods casino is moving closer to homes - as close as 600 feet - due to environmental protection concerns with the current layout on the property.
Foxwoods officials, who have proposed a $1 billion, 660,000-square-foot resort casino at the intersection of Interstate 495 and Rte. 16, told residents at a community meeting on Tuesday that the move is required.
“We are moving to this plan,” said Sean Reardon, an engineer with TetraTech, a consulting firm for the casino developers. “We were committed to building on the upper part of the site, but we don’t think that’s going to be possible now.”
The building, which is only set to cover a small portion of the 187-acre property, was originally supposed to be placed on the upper portion near I-495 and farther away from homes.
“In the very beginning, we took an aggressive approach to put our development away from the neighborhood,” Reardon said. “It involved a lot of trouble, but our main focus was to move away from the neighborhood.”
However, Reardon said additional vernal pools were discovered on the property through the course of their analysis. These vernal pools, protected by the Army Corps of Engineers, are protected breeding areas for salamanders and frogs.
Reardon said he met with the Army Corps of Engineers two weeks ago and again on Tuesday and that they prefer moving the building.
“We have to prove that any project we propose is the least environmentally impactful,” Reardon said.
“They were unequivocal in saying that (the alternative plan) is far less environmentally impactful than the previous alternative. We stressed to them the economics and socioeconomics, but their priorities are the habitats.”
Moving the casino to the lower portion of the property allows the developers to keep the four large transmission lines on the property where they’re located, but brings the building within 600 feet of abutters on Wildwood Drive.
The move also creates changes to the traffic mitigation plan, which will include a new interchange from I-495, where 91 percent of the traffic is projected to come from, onto Rte. 16.
“The negative impact is absolutely the increased volume on Rte. 16,” said Reardon, noting 250 additional cars during peak hours. “We know that sends more traffic past the houses you live in, but we have to be able to prove there’s a regional benefit and it’s overwhelmingly considered a regional benefit to take traffic off side roads.”
Foxwoods officials, who have proposed a $1 billion, 660,000-square-foot resort casino at the intersection of Interstate 495 and Rte. 16, told residents at a community meeting on Tuesday that the move is required.
“We are moving to this plan,” said Sean Reardon, an engineer with TetraTech, a consulting firm for the casino developers. “We were committed to building on the upper part of the site, but we don’t think that’s going to be possible now.”
The building, which is only set to cover a small portion of the 187-acre property, was originally supposed to be placed on the upper portion near I-495 and farther away from homes.
“In the very beginning, we took an aggressive approach to put our development away from the neighborhood,” Reardon said. “It involved a lot of trouble, but our main focus was to move away from the neighborhood.”
However, Reardon said additional vernal pools were discovered on the property through the course of their analysis. These vernal pools, protected by the Army Corps of Engineers, are protected breeding areas for salamanders and frogs.
Reardon said he met with the Army Corps of Engineers two weeks ago and again on Tuesday and that they prefer moving the building.
“We have to prove that any project we propose is the least environmentally impactful,” Reardon said.
“They were unequivocal in saying that (the alternative plan) is far less environmentally impactful than the previous alternative. We stressed to them the economics and socioeconomics, but their priorities are the habitats.”
Moving the casino to the lower portion of the property allows the developers to keep the four large transmission lines on the property where they’re located, but brings the building within 600 feet of abutters on Wildwood Drive.
The move also creates changes to the traffic mitigation plan, which will include a new interchange from I-495, where 91 percent of the traffic is projected to come from, onto Rte. 16.
“The negative impact is absolutely the increased volume on Rte. 16,” said Reardon, noting 250 additional cars during peak hours. “We know that sends more traffic past the houses you live in, but we have to be able to prove there’s a regional benefit and it’s overwhelmingly considered a regional benefit to take traffic off side roads.”
The move brings more issues for the neighbors closest to the proposed casino development, who just met with Selectmen to express their concerns last week.
“How did East Main Street become not a local road?” said Roz Seale, who lives off Rte. 16 on Wildwood Drive. “Now, suddenly, we’re sort of the main entrance. How do you say that 700 cars coming on daily in peak hours is not going to be awful.”
Another area neighbor, Harold Roads, expressed concern that the plans from Foxwoods continue to change.
“When will there be no more changes so that this will be the plan Foxwoods would like to build?” Roads asked.
Reardon said if it does get to a community-wide vote, residents will be voting on a plan that “we will not deviate substantially from.”
Read more: http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/x1580222666/Milford-casino-plan-moves-closer-to-homes#ixzz2Y6GxmgTz
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