Keene casino legislation could be ready for vote in September

This story was originally produced by Keene’s Guardian. NHPR republishes it in partnership with Granite State News Collaboration.

The Keene City Council could decide on an ordinance regulating casino operations as early as next month after hearing details of the plan at a council meeting last Thursday.

The latest version of the plan further restricts the ability of casinos to operate in the city center, which currently includes the City Center Development Zone in addition to the city center itself.

The Central District encompasses the heart of downtown, while the Development District encompasses the eastern, western and southern sections.

The changes come after meetings earlier this summer between the city’s Planning Board and the Planning, Licensing and Development Board, which considered not only where casinos should be allowed, but also their minimum size and location near schools, churches and homes.

“I would say the biggest change is that the joint committee felt strongly that it didn’t necessarily make sense to build a charitable gambling facility in a growth district downtown,” said Mari Brunner, a senior planner for Keene.

The group “really looked closely at the statement of intent for the neighborhood and felt that the downtown expansion was intended to create a more pedestrian-friendly environment and was intended to be an expansion,” Brunner said.

Bringing casinos to the area, which create significant demand for parking, would be counterproductive, according to Community Development Director Jesse Rounds.

The amount of parking in the city has been a sticking point during discussions about where casinos should be allowed to open, and a joint committee working on the ordinance ultimately decided that the commercial district was the most appropriate location for casinos in Keene — “which is our more car-oriented neighborhood,” Brunner said Thursday.

Under the latest draft of the regulations, casinos must be at least 10,000 square feet (smaller than the 20,000 square feet previously proposed), can only have one casino on a single lot, and a casino cannot be located within 500 feet of another casino; less than 200 feet of a place of worship, day care or school; less than 250 feet of a one- or two-family home; or less than 250 feet of a residential zone, Brunner said.

Brunner said the permitted casino locations in the ordinance now include West Street from Island Street to the bypass, Winchester Street south of Island Street and north of Cornwell Drive, Main Street south of Route 101 and north of Silent Way, and Ash Brook Road. Key Road and Kit Street are also listed. In addition to being zoned in a commercial district, all of those locations also have access to a main road, another feature Brunner said the commission took into account.

The introduction of the ordinance last October put an end to company owner Dorrie Masten’s plans to open a casino in Central Square.

Wonder Casino is the only casino in Keene. The 172 Emerald St. business is not located in an area where ordinance would allow it, but Rounds has previously said the company would not be required to relocate.

After Thursday’s public hearing, the ordinance now goes to the council’s planning, licensing and development committee, Rounds said. The committee is set to make its recommendations on the regulations at its Sept. 11 meeting. The council is then scheduled to take up the ordinance Sept. 19.