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It read like a who's-who of the casino situation: among the 40-some-odd people assembled in a small, vacant room in a currently unoccupied piece of West Warwick's Industrial Park were prominent local politicos, Harrah's executives, a core group of representatives from Rhode Islanders for Jobs and Tax Relief (RIJTR) and Chief Sachem Matthew Thomas of the Narragansett Tribe, to name a few of the players.
They were all assembled to learn and share information regarding site issues for the proposed Harrah's casino, a controversial project whose presence on the Nov. 7 ballot is swiftly approaching with each passing day.
Outside the meeting, which was an effort assembled by RIJTR and Harrah's, a small group of representatives from West Warwick Citizens Against the Casino gathered, picketing with posterboard signs before joining in to hear the presentation and get their laundry list of questions answered.
The meeting, according to RIJTR spokesperson Claire Eckert, was to be "a simple presentation with displays and maps," as well as a brief walking tour around the casino's proposed footprint: a formidable expanse of hotel space, casino floor, dining and retail spaces and other resort amenities situated within Ward 5, a neighborhood of the 8-square mile town.
Engineer Thomas Lucivero of Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc. out of Providence was on hand to initiate the presentation, referring to a detailed aerial map of the structure and surrounding neighborhoods. He first noted that in designing the proposed property, the engineers and architects involved in the planning process identified constraints on the property including wetland area, buffer zones, property limits and the surrounding roadway network.
Lucivero said that the planning teams went to "great pains" to ensure that buffering around the casino and the proposed roads of egress and ingress for service and emergency vehicles were in place. He noted that, as per negotiations between Harrah's and the town council to hammer out a host agreement, all access will be from I-95 with the exception of service vehicles, for which a separate road network will be built, and emergency vehicles.
"We've also, to some expense, moved the parking areas to the front of the casino at [Council Member Peter Calci (D-Ward 5)'s] request," he added, assuaging the concerns of some residents on hand.
Lucivero noted that other changes made to the structure and plans included reducing the height of the 12-story hotel several hundred feet down to 160 feet, and making sure there was a 670 ft. buffer zone between the back of the complex's property line and the hotel.
Within the efforts made to create a buffer, Lucivero emphasized a "very permanent screen of evergreen trees" about 200 ft. thick in order to protect the residential areas from light and sound, and to keep the casino mostly out of sight of the nearby properties. Additionally, he noted, some of the casino footprint is bounded by forested wetlands, which he said "could never be touched."
It was at this point that casino opponent Thomas K. Jones, Vice-President of West Warwick Citizens Against the Casino, piped up.
"You said you weren't going to bother the residents. And that is in my backyard."
Jones continued in a back-and-forth with Harrah's representatives for the rest of the evening, insisting that the casino was too close to bordering homes, including his property on nearby Meggan Court. He spoke to the fact that Harrah's also had a $1.5 million on an old farm estate behind the casino on 461 East Greenwich Ave., one which he accused Harrah's Vice President of Government Relations and Development David Satz of planning to expand upon.
"We're not building on it. We have options on that property, but we're not going to be building on it. We're working to do as best we can to minimize the impact, and [that property] is a part of that. We keep our promises," Satz told Jones.
Satz explained that Harrah's had options on the property because it was "part of [the casino's] assemblage" and that it would help ensure that there would be a buffer zone. He continued, throughout the exchanges with Jones and other residents, to explain that it was not Harrah's intention to build on that property.
Questions were also raised by local residents regarding the amount of water needed by the casino structure. Lucivero noted that the Kent County Water Authority, which serves Coventry, West Warwick, and parts of Warwick, has improvements on the docket to expand their resources from 3 million to 7 million gallons of water available a day, a 4 million gallon leap that, according to Lucivero, will be made possible by acquisition of some water supply from the nearby Scituate reservoir, which serves Providence and parts of Warwick and the addition of new wells and aquifers around the Lake Mishnock region.
Architect Joseph Emanuele, Vice President of the Friedmutter Group, then took over the tour and noted that the structure had a "beautiful facade" that would "fit nicely with the surroundings," again emphasizing the permanent burm of Evergreens that will buffer residences such as those on Meggan Court from the casino.
"This is all good," said Eckert, speaking against a background of an increasingly heated conversation that Jones was instigating with Satz.
"This is exactly why we're having this meeting. So that people can ask questions and respond, and we listen to those comments from residents and change things as we can. This is very good that people can get together so in the end this facility is satisfactory to everyone," she said.
"We're here to help people understand. And we're trying to be very open and transparent. We're trying to work with the council, and we're trying to work with the neighbors," said Satz.
Some local politicians expressed their pleasure with the process towards the end of the meeting.
"I think they're doing a good job here...it's [impressive] that they're putting themselves on the line like this and answering questions," said West Warwick Democratic Committee Chairman Frank Giorgio.
"I just had a fifteen minute conversation with one resident and it was refreshing for her to see both sides of the issue. In most cases, people aren't going to change their mind [on the casino issue], but this process has positives and negatives and I've always said I want people to look at both of those," said Council Vice President Ed Giroux (D-Ward 3).
"We [as a council] have looked at every side of the economic impact and the quality of life issues," he said, noting that he hoped to see an official host agreement by the end of September. The agreement would feature stipulations from both sides as to what guarantees Harrah's could offer the town, including quality of life impact issues.
"I truly believe this project will mean a rebirth for West Warwick," he concluded. |
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