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Foxborough Planning Board Does Not Support Zoning Changes Sought For Casino

The Foxborough Planning Board "voted last night not to support two key zoning changes sought by Patriots owner Robert Kraft and Las Vegas developer Steve Wynn to build a casino in the town," according to Bolton & Bierman of the BOSTON GLOBE. The board voted "after more than 500 people turned out at a middle school last night, with most demanding that local officials heed earlier pleas to bar a casino from opening on Kraft property near Gillette Stadium." It was the "first public meeting since Kraft announced that he was teaming up with Wynn on a resort proposal." Planning Board members said that they wanted to "delay action because it is clear now that the zoning changes could help pave the way for a casino." They said that the Kraft-Wynn team should "return with their proposal after the first of the year." The Kraft Group did "not speak at the meeting last night and appeared to downplay the significance of the board’s decision afterward." Bolton & Bierman note the town’s "support is crucial." Zoning changes "need to go through at least two local governing bodies and then need support from two-thirds of residents at a Town Meeting." Planning Board Chair Kevin Weinfeld said that Kraft and the Patriots have "pumped money into the local economy and that property owners have a right to develop their land, so long as they comply with the law." But he added that gambling is "not legal in the town." It remains unclear whether the NFL would "object to Kraft’s plan to lease his property to Wynn, who would own and operate the casino" (BOSTON GLOBE, 12/9).

WINNER AND LOSERS: In Boston, Chris Cassidy notes some locals "fear a casino would spike traffic, crime and addiction, stripping away the community’s small-town character." But while many "worried the casino would destroy Foxboro, some felt it could save it" (BOSTON HERALD, 12/9). Also in Boston, Joan Vennochi writes, "This is about super-rich people making themselves even richer." That is why Kraft and Wynn "want to build a casino at Gillette Stadium and why [Boston Culinary Group Chair & CEO Joe] O’Donnell and his backers want to build one at Suffolk Downs." Under the state’s new gambling law, there can "only be one winner in eastern Massachusetts." That means someone "has to lose, which sets up a good, old-fashioned Boston power struggle over bragging rights and bazillions of dollars" (BOSTON GLOBE, 12/9).

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