I can't imagine why.
"Kraft lawyer drafted casino zoning changes; Foxborough asked for plan, tabled it" October 18, 2011|By Noah Bierman, Globe Staff
A lawyer for the Kraft Group drafted zoning changes for the town of Foxborough this summer that would have allowed construction of casinos on property the company owns across from Gillette Stadium, raising the prospect that one of the state’s most powerful families could have a role in the Commonwealth’s plans for expanded gambling.
I dunno; the NFL is sensitive to gambling being involved in their game.
The Kraft Group said the changes were submitted at the town manager’s request. The manager, Kevin Paicos, also said he asked the Kraft lawyer to draft the proposal and that he brought the issue to selectmen at the request of several developers, whom he declined to name.
Those developers, he said, were testing the viability of potential sites across the state in anticipation of the Legislature approving casinos and a slot-machine parlor.
But the zoning plans were met with hostility by both the town Planning Board and the Board of Selectmen, which shelved the plans.
What?
The Krafts, who own the New England Patriots, would face a number of significant hurdles if they choose to pursue a casino or sell property to a developer. NFL rules bar franchises from owning casinos. And the pending casino bill requires that any casino developer win approval in a local ballot initiative before winning a license, something that could prove a very tough sell in Foxborough....
Why would jobs be a tough sell?
The NFL’s rules against team ownership of a casino would seem to be the Krafts’ biggest hurdle. Brian McCarthy, the NFL’s vice president of corporate communications, confirmed that NFL owners are not allowed under league rules to own a casino. The league also warns its players to stay away from gamblers and gambling activity.
But McCarthy said in e-mails that the league has no specific policy barring a team from leasing property to a casino developer. He also said it has no specific policy regarding casinos locating near its stadiums. In either case, the league would need to review the situation.
He said he did not know of any inquiries the Krafts had made to the league.
Though the NFL is skittish about any associations with gambling, it has relaxed its policy in at least one respect in recent years, allowing NFL teams two years ago to license lottery tickets. The Patriots were the first team to sign a deal with the state lottery.
Oh, the lottery is okay.
The Kraft family has been developing the area for years. In addition to the stadium, the Kraft Group built Patriot Place, a 1.3 million-square-foot shopping and entertainment complex adjacent to the stadium. The group is also pursuing a permanent commuter rail link, and a pedestrian bridge to connect their properties now bisected by Route 1.
Set, hut.
See: Patriots' Kraft Passes Checks to Patrick
All so you can get to the casino!
The state has designated the property across from the stadium as a growth district, targeting it as one of a handful of sites that can accommodate a significant development. The Krafts say they have spent millions of dollars on permitting and other work that would make it shovel ready.
Shoveling something, all right.
But Paicos, the town manager, said the reaction of the Foxborough Board of Selectmen, which voted 5 to 0 against bringing the zoning change to Town Meeting last month, had stalled any talk of casinos for now....
It appears, Paicos said, that the “community’s appetite to host large venues … has pretty much reached the limits of the town’s endurance.’’
??????
Still, he agrees with Selectman Mark S. Sullivan that developers could come back with a more concrete plan, if Patrick signs a casino bill, There’s a difference, they said, between being asked a hypothetical question and seeing a concrete proposal.
Sullivan recalled that Town Meeting rejected a meals tax two years in a row and then approved it on the third try. “Sometimes, it just keeps coming back,’’ he said.
What part of democracy do they not understand?
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