Yes Lowell Sun

The Sun's View: Give Tewksbury slots plan time to develop

The Lowell SunUpdated: 08/16/2013 10:17:28 AM EDT
Tewksbury residents have a momentous decision to make at their Special Town Meeting on Tuesday. At that time, they will vote on zoning changes that would allow the construction of gaming facility, specifically a $200 million slots parlor proposed by Penn National Gaming. A two-thirds majority is required to enact the zoning change, which would allow Penn National to take the next step. That would be prevailing in a townwide referendum vote on Sept. 21 and then submitting its application to the state Gaming Commission by Oct. 4. It's up to that board to decide which of the competing bids will run the state's only slots parlor. If it's Penn National, then a slots facility would be built on a 30-acre parcel on Ames Pond Road off Route 133, near the Andover line. If the zoning change is defeated, the slots-parlor proposal cannot proceed. Since news of Penn National's interest in Tewksbury just surfaced in early July, many are still in the process of assimilating all the information -- and misinformation -- that has circulated around town. Here's what's not in dispute: Based in Wyomissing, Pa., Penn National Gaming, a publicly traded company on the NASDAQ stock market, operates casinos in several locations across the United States. Working with these host communities, Penn National, by all accounts, has been an outstanding corporate citizen. In sum, both the communities and the company have benefited financially from their association. An Advertisementexample of this was described in Sun reporter Katie Lannan's series of articles on the experience of Bangor, Maine, earlier this week. In Tewksbury's case, the Board of Selectmen and town manager came to support the slots-parlor proposal after learning it could generate up to $4 million in new revenue for the town. In addition, Penn National has agreed to make a direct donation of $900,000, to the benefit of the Police and Fire departments, as well as other town entities. And it has offered concessions -- such as not building an adjacent hotel -- so as to not negatively impact nearby businesses. Nonetheless, there are certainly those who oppose putting a slots parlor in Tewksbury. Some object purely on moral grounds, while others fear the town's quality of life and reputation may suffer -- along with property values -- as a result. Fear of a spike in crime has also been mentioned as a negative consequence of hosting a slots parlor, which is projected to attract up to a million vehicle trips annually. And then there's Route 133, which certainly deals with traffic congestion during morning and evening commuting times. We believe all sides agree Route 133 presents problems, and so Penn National has undertaken a traffic study to see what can been done to improve the vehicle flow. While we respect the opinion of those morally opposed, other objections appear based on emotion, not factual evaluation. For example, on Tuesday night, while a group opposed to the slots parlor met at the Tewksbury Country Club, Town Manager Richard Montuori presented his results of conversations with officials of four host Penn National cities that indicated casinos have had an overall positive effect, with no major impact on property values or crime rates. Police Chief Timothy Sheehan echoed these sentiments, after speaking to law-enforcement officials in several casino communities. They indicated their traffic and crime fears "never materialized." That's probably due to the fact that Penn National states its average customers are women in their late 50s and early 60s. We believe this slots parlor, which would be tucked into an isolated section of an office park closer to Andover and Lowell than most sections of Tewksbury, would generate benefits far beyond the town's border. As its name suggests, the Merrimack Valley Casino also would generate a major economic boost for the entire area. A yes vote at the Special Town Meeting would give everyone more time to gather information and clarify concerns ahead of the Sept. 21 town referendum. A no vote removes that possibility.

That's why we strongly recommend a yes vote for the zoning change on Aug. 20. That will allow for the further discussion a project of this importance deserves.

Read more: http://www.lowellsun.com/opinion/ci_23875381/give-tewksbury-slots-plan-time-develop#ixzz2c9VRvQyL