By Lindsay Corcoran/Daily News staff
MILFORD —
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission will release its background check and hold a suitability hearing for the Milford casino proposal next week.
The suitability hearing for Crossroads, LLC, the group of investors including Foxwoods that is proposing a $1 billion, 980,000-square-foot resort-casino at the intersection of Interstate 495 and Rte. 16, is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 13 and Thursday, Nov. 14 in Boston.
According to the gaming commission, the report regarding suitability will be released on or before Nov. 14.
The scheduling of the hearing comes after anti-casino groups in and around Milford called on the gaming commission to release the information prior to the upcoming referendum vote on Nov. 19.
“It’s something we found problematic that it originally looked like it was scheduled for after the vote,” said Geri Eddins, a spokesperson for Casino-Free Milford. “It’s good news that it’ll be before the vote … as this information is critical to all Milford voters.”
Last week, the MetroWest Anti-Casino Coalition, comprised of officials from Hopkinton, Holliston, Medway and Ashland, called on the commission to release the background check, saying it created a double standard by releasing the Suffolk Downs report before the vote.
“The Gaming Commission has created a double standard on the mandatory state background checks,” said coalition Chairman Brian Herr. “East Boston residents learned valuable information about a fundamentally corrupt institution before the referendum. Milford residents undoubtedly deserve the same information. Why do a background check if you are not going to tell voters about it before a referendum?”
The commission released the report on Caesar’s Entertainment, one of the investors in the Suffolk Downs casino proposal in East Boston, failing the background check prior to tonight's referendum.
Suffolk Downs’ suitability hearing was held last week and they were found suitable after Caesar’s withdrew from the project.
The Foxwoods proposal in Milford is competing against Suffolk Downs and Steven Wynn’s project in Everett for the sole casino license in the eastern part of the state.
Foxwoods spokesman Stephen Oakes said they are confident the gaming commission will find them suitable.
"We're 100 percent confident in the results of our background check regardless of when it's released," Oakes said.
Foxwoods needs a suitable determination from the gaming commission for the project to advance. If the proposal passes the town-wide vote and a zoning vote at Town Meeting scheduled for Dec. 9, Foxwoods will submit a second-round application with the commission by Dec. 31.
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