This ignores the Open Meeting Law violations.
STREET BEAT: Plainridge slots stir traffic concerns
http://www.thesunchronicle.com/articles/2012/04/23/plainville/11346340.txt
Impact on roads, not gambling key to some racecourse neighbors
PLAINVILLE - Patty Snow estimates the distance between her house and Plainridge Racecourse to be about the length of a football field.
Her Haynes Road home is one of the closest to the back of the Route 1 racetrack.
But Snow said she sometimes forgets the track is there. She can't see it from her house and she only hears a faint noise from the track on summer nights when the windows are open.
So Snow said she doesn't object to the track applying for a state license to operate slot machines. Plainridge has been a good neighbor over the years, she said.
She said she's not crazy about gambling, but figures if the state is going to allow it, Plainville might as well get the revenue that would come from Plainridge winning the license.
"I'm kind of for it because the town needs the revenue," she said despite living in the neighborhood closest to the track.
Although there is no outward sign of resistance to slot machines in the neighborhood, one concern by homeowners is traffic.
Some homeowners said they fear motorists might use adjacent Mirimichi Street as a shortcut to avoid traffic lights on Route 1 that the track is proposing to install.
"I think it's a bad thing," Nancy Kraby of Haynes Road said of the slot machine proposal. "I think it will increase traffic. We already have Lowe's and Target and the racetrack."
Elizabeth White, who said she can see the track from her backyard, also said she is concerned about increased traffic.
An opposition group has formed in Plainville, led by Mary-Ann Greanier of Mirimichi Street, but so far the organization is small.
Greanier said she is opposed to gambling on principle. But, if slot machines get approved at Plainridge, she wants the town to drive a hard bargain to make sure the revenues gained outweigh the costs.
Plainridge President Gary Piontkowski said he believes the fears about traffic in the neighborhood are unfounded. [Hmmmm...except these have been expressed previously.]
He said the track intends to spend $5 million making improvements to Route 1. The proposed improvements include traffic lights at the track and the intersection with Interstate 495. There would also be left-turn lanes into the property from Route 1 South. [And...Oh! BTW! Did anyone ask about the timing of the 'traffic survey' conducted during a slow time of the year? Been there! Done that!]
Piontkowski said he cannot imagine why someone would use Mirimichi Street - a narrow, winding road - as a shortcut because it is not a shorter or quicker drive.
Plainridge, he said, has been a good neighbor and even owns about 12 empty house lots on Haynes Road.
There has never been an arrest at the track in 14 years of operation and the only noise comes during the 24 minutes of live racing during harness season, he said. [Phew!]
"We don't think slot machines will have an impact on the neighborhood at all," he said. [Oh? Wonder why studies prove otherwise?]
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