Boston Weighs Casino Status Legal Options

In the latest twist to the scramble for Massachusetts casino licenses, Boston is weighing a push for host-community status with an eye on more state mitigation revenue, though voters in one neighborhood already rejected one proposal.

East Boston neighborhood residents in November rejected a Caesar's Entertainment resort casino plan at the Suffolk Downs horse racing track.

Afterwards, Suffolk Downs, in a new partnership with Mohegan Sun, made a counterproposal right across the city line in Revere.

Revere will vote on the new plan on Feb. 25 under a state requirement that host communities approve a proposal through a referendum.

Wynn Resorts has a competing plan in Everett, which sits across the Mystic River from Boston's Charlestown neighborhood.

Host status means more state mitigation money to offset the effects of a nearby casino, including worsened traffic, emergency personnel costs and ripple effects on businesses.

"We're poring over it now. Over the next few weeks we're going to make some decisions," said new Boston Mayor Martin Walsh. "My interest now is to protect the residents of East Boston and Charlestown. They could let an arbiter decide what's good for Boston, and I'm frightened about that."

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission on Jan. 13 rejected Boston's appeal for an extra month to review the casino proposals, which take up 45,000 pages combined. "It took me five days to look them over," Walsh told WBZ Radio. Walsh voted for casino legislation as a state lawmaker.

Boston is seen as the most profitable of three regions designated for resort casinos under state enabling legislation that passed in 2011, as Massachusetts seeks to compete with other Northeast states for gambling revenue. The other regions are western and southeastern Massachusetts, the latter reserved for Native American operation provided the business plan is viable.

A plethora of communities throughout the state have petitioned the gaming panel for surrounding community status, seeking financial redress for such matters as traffic and loss of business and tax revenue.

Entertainment venues such as the Lynn Auditorium — Lynn is near Revere and Everett on Boston's North Shore — and the Eastern States Exposition in west Springfield have also applied under the commission's "impacted live entertainment venues."

Casino-resort applicants are scheduled to make presentations Wednesday at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.