Social Justice-Impact on the Poor

Stop the Casino 101 Coalition

The families living in low-income housing near the Graton Rancheria casino will bear the brunt of the traffic, noise, and pollution problems that will happen because of the casino. Let’s not add another burden to the lives of those in need – stop the Graton Rancheria Casino! http://www.stopthecasino101.com/id72.html

 

Social Justice-Impact on the Poor

Social Justice-Impact on the Poor

Creating a Ghetto on Rohnert Park's West Side: What the casino will do to Rohnert Park's low-income families and children.

West Side Story..... Rohnert Park's poor families will suffer the greatest impact from the casino proposed by the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria. Rohnert Park's low-income housing is located primarily on the west side of Highway 101, and most of that housing is less than 1/4 mile from the casino site. Five low-income developments now exist near the casino site west of 101 in Rohnert Park, and more low- to very low-income housing is planned for the West Side in the next ten years, all of it less than 1/4 mile from the casino. On the east side of the freeway, Rohnert Park's more affluent neighborhoods are graced with thirteen beautiful parks, many with swimming pools and tennis courts. But on the west side of the freeway, it's a different story. There are no parks, no pools, and no tennis courts for the city's thousands of low-income residents, and now Rohnert Park's low- income families will have to bear the brunt of the mega-casino's impacts on traffic, and noise and air pollution, as well as the increase in crime and prostitution the casino will surely bring. But that's not all: Read More About Casinos and Crime HERE Gambling Addiction and Low-Income and Minorities: According to a recent study by the University of Buffalo Research Institute on Addiction, "...individuals who live within ten miles of a casino or are in a disadvantaged neighborhood are more likely to experience problem gambling...." - a double whammy for the residents on Rohnert Park's West Side. Families in Rancho Verde Mobile Home Park, one of several low-income housing developments on Rohnert Park's West Side, would have the casino literally in their back yards, and the Park's children will be exposed to the negative impacts from the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria's mega-casino on a daily basis. University of Buffalo study (PDF)-Click Here Read More About Gambling's Effect on Children and Families HERE Asthma and the Casino: Did you know that Rohnert Park has the highest rate of asthma, especially in children, in Sonoma County? Asthma disproportionately impacts low-income communities and communities of color. Casino traffic will dump over 4 tons of NOx into the air every single year, as well as soot and other pollutants. Asthma affects people from all walks of life, but, low-income and minority populations have much higher fatality rates, hospital admmissions, and emergency rooms visits due to asthma. Read More About Diesel Soot and Children HERE http://www.stopthecasino101.com/id72.html

Plainridge's Neighbor Unfriendly Plans

As abutters of Plainridge Racecourse, we have been notified that, on June 27th, they will begin a month (or more) of blasting and drilling in our neighborhood.

We attended every Planning Board meeting and hearing about this project in 2010. We were told there would be "some" blasting and drilling. We were never told it would last for a month. We can assure you that the scope of this project was never made clear to the people in our neighborhood.

At the Planning Board hearings, the public was not allowed to talk about slots or any other reason why a failing business that rarely comes close to filling its parking lot would need to build a behemoth garage. That means it was not disclosed or even discussed at the time that Plainridge anticipates 6,534 vehicle trips/day, in and out of that garage, 24/7/365, should they get the slots license (according to the Notice of Project Change filed with MEPA).

Our neighborhood will suffer while the garage is being built. We will suffer the added noise, light, and pollution, every hour of every day, if the slot barn is licensed.

If Plainridge had wanted to, they could easily have placed the garage elsewhere on their 100+ acre property — maybe close to Route One, further from where families actually live. Instead, they chose to build it cheek-by-jowl with our neighborhood. They couldn't have gotten closer if they tried.

If they wanted to, they could have spared us this month of blasting and drilling. If they wanted to, they could have spared us what comes next.

They say they are a "good neighbor." As someone who lives fewer than 250' from the blasting and drilling of construction, to be followed by the noise and stench of 6,500+ vehicle trips per day should a slot barn get licensed, we say "BS."

Mary-Ann Greanier
Wayne Bryant

19 Mirimichi Street
Plainville, MA 02762
508.695.2794

Plainridge's Scam

Secretary of the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, Richard K. Sullivan Jr

Re: EEA#11431 Plainridge Racecourse Notice of Project Change

Dear Secretary Sullivan:

I am an abutter who lives within 300' of Plainridge Racecourse. I have serious concerns about the noise and light pollution that will come with the proposed project change, especially because, should the slot barn license be granted to Plainridge, the proposed facility is likely to be open for business a punishing 24/7/365. Already, with construction and blasting happening six days a week, we are often forced to keep our windows closed because of the noise, exhaust and dust coming from the site. Our neighborhood is closest to the new garage facility, and so will suffer the greatest impact. (While Plainridge could have chosen to place the garage near Route One, thereby ameliorating much of the impact to our neighborhood, they chose, instead, to tuck it as close to our neighborhood and as far away from Route One as they could. It's hard to fathom that there was not better site for the garage on the 100+ acres they own. Be that as it may...)

In the Notice of Project Change, there is a proposed change of 4,900 vehicle trips/day in and out of Plainridge, for a total of 6,534 vehicle trips/day (http://www.env.state.ma.us/mepa/mepadocs/2012/060612em/nps/npc/11431npc.pdf). That's an average of 272 trips/hour (with some hours being significantly heavier or lighter than others, of course). Combined with the noise of cars in the garage itself — noise which is amplified by the garage structure — those vehicle trips will significantly add to the sound floor of the neighborhood.

Families living on Harness Path, Haynes Road, and Mirimichi Street will be forced to deal with the effects of noise and light coming from those estimated 6,500 vehicle trips/day, coming at all hours of the day and night. Abutters with children are especially vulnerable to the impact of the increased road noise as an ambient stressor for their children.*

Finally, I am concerned about the change in the quality of the air we breathe with the sharp increase in the proposed number of fossil fueled vehicles in our neighborhood. I have asthma. One elderly neighbor has COPD and another is battling cancer; they live in two of the houses closest to the proposed site.

I urge you to use every possible means at your disposal to insure that the people forced to live cheek-by-jowl with this project do not suffer the adverse impact of such an extreme change of use.

Thank you.

Sincerely,
Mary-Ann Greanier

19 Mirimichi Street

Plainville, MA 02762

phone 508.695.2794
mobile 508.369.1787



* "Although the predominant health concern of chronic noise exposure is auditory damage, increasing attention is being paid to the nonauditory health effects of noise. The nonauditory effects of noise have been conceptualized in terms of stress, suggesting that chronic noise exposure leads to an overload of stimulation that is experienced as an irritating, annoying stimulus that interferes with relaxation as well as the ability to concentrate (Broadbent, 1971; Evans and Cohen, 1987; Lercher, 1998). The uncontrollability of chronic noise exposure also appears to be a salient aspect of its stressful properties (Cohen et al., 1986; Glass and Singer, 1972). Evidence that noise can function as a stressor includes elevated psychophysiological activation, greater psychosomatic symptoms of anxiety and nervousness, and deficits in motivation indicative of helplessness (Cohen et al., 1986; Evans, 2001; Ising, Babisch, and Kruppa, 1999; Ising and Braun, 2000; Kryter, 1994; Lercher, 1996; Medical Research Council, 1997). It is important to recognize that most of the evidence for these findings comes from individuals with no discernible hearing deficits. Nonauditory effects of noise appear to occur at levels far below those required to damage hearing."

from "Community noise exposure and stress in children"
J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 109 (3), March 2001

Suffolk Downs Opposition

Residents fret over casino’s Eastie impact

Insurance, pollution raised as concerns

By O’Ryan Johnson and Christine McConville
Wednesday, June 13, 2012

 

Plans for a new Caesars casino at Suffolk Downs got a mixed response from East Boston residents who worried about crime, traffic, air quality and light pollution but welcomed the idea of new jobs in the area neighborhood where the billion-dollar casino is planned.

The meeting last night at East Boston High School featured a panel of those backing the casino including the architect, a traffic consultant, Suffolk Downs Chief Operating Officer Chip Tuttle, former Boston Police Commissioner Paul Evans and Caesars Entertainment Corporation Central Division President John Payne.

Brian Gannon asked how the casino planned to make up for the possible impact on car insurance rates and air pollution, with as many as 5 million vehicles headed to the site annually.

“You’re bringing in about 3.6 to 5.8 million new vehicle trips according to your own numbers. How are you going to mitigate that air quality first of all, and secondly, how much is our car insurance going to increase?” he said. “It’s already the highest in the city.”

Tuttle said the project would go through a “full permitting and DEP review.” He said they are concerned about the effect on insurance, but cannot do anything about it.

“The question of car insurance rates has come up,” he said. “How that is determined is beyond our control.”

On crime, Tuttle said planners are looking at success stories in other communities and cited Wilkes-Barre, Pa., as a town that introduced casino gambling, and he said saw crime decrease. 

There are  +1500 legal Gambling facilities in the US and he actually found ONE relatively NEW facility with reduced CRIME??? Just wait! Studies have shown that CRIME takes time. 

There were also those in the crowd who favored the project.

Debra Patti of East Boston told the crowd she supported it because it would provide [LOW WAGE] jobs with good benefits to a community that needs it.   IGNORING THE TRUTH!

“My daughter has lived in Las Vegas for eight years,” Patti said. “She moved out of here because there’s no money to be made. She went to Las Vegas. ... They get medical out there. She’s doing great. Move it in, absolutely. There’s revenue to be made.”  

Las Vegas has HIGH CRIME, HIGH POVERTY, THE NATION'S HIGHEST  RATE OF HOME FORECLOSURES, HIGH DIVORCE RATES, HIGH PERSONAL BANKRUPTCIES, HIGH SUICIDE RATES, HIGH DROPOUT RATES, LOW COLLEGE GRADUATION RATES. Something to copy?

There is another community meeting set for June 25.

Meanwhile, the state’s fledgling Gaming Commission — with a staff of eight — is looking to add more workers.

Commissioners pitched hiring an ombudsman yesterday and an outside consultant. The new hires were rolled out as members debated how to handle community concerns as casino projects become a reality.

Currently, there are five commissioners, one director of communications, a chief of staff and two assistants on the commission.

“We are working with consultants who are in the process of creating a strategic ‘work plan,’ which will outline mandatory hires,” board communications director Elaine Driscoll told the Herald.

Commission Chairman Stephen P. Crosby said while the five-member board will have its own “ombudsman who will assist the developers and maybe the towns,” there also needs to be an outside consultant to mitigate disputes between casino developers and the town that will house them.

“I’ll work on pulling together a list of people,” Crosby said during the afternoon meeting.
The commission also is about to hire a search firm to help locate a permanent executive director.

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/politics/view.bg?&articleid=1061138581&format=&page=1&listingType=MA2004#articleFull