Keene, New Hampshire’s City Council may approve new restrictions next month on where gaming properties can be located. The likely zones for casinos will be in the city’s commercial district.
Council members are working to prevent charitable casinos from many downtown areas, according to the Keene Sentinel, a local news outlet.
Casino Restrictions
The new ordinance would place many other restrictions on casinos. City officials are planning to regulate the size of casinos. The current proposal says they should be at least 10,000 square feet. An earlier proposal put their minimum size at 20,000 square feet.
The newest plan also says how close they can be to schools, religious sites, and residential properties, the report added.
Casinos likely can’t be located within 200 feet of a house of worship, daycare center, or school. They also can’t be sited within 250 feet of a residence. Just one casino can be on a lot and casinos must be 500 feet or more from one another.
I’d say probably the biggest change is that … it didn’t necessarily make sense … for a charitable gaming facility to occur in the downtown growth district,” Keene Senior Planner Mari Brunner said last week.
“The … downtown growth [zone] is intended for a more walkable, pedestrian-oriented environment,” Brunner added.
Keene Community Development Director Jesse Rounds explained that casinos lead to more traffic and the need for increased parking.
The areas that casinos can be located 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, the Sentinel reported. Key Road and Kit Street are also allowed locations.
City officials will next consider the casino regulations during Sept. 11 and 19 meetings.
Only one single gaming property, Wonder Casino, is operating in Keene. It could remain at its current location despite new regulations, according to current plans.
Property Owner Complains
The proposed ordinance is hampering plans for a casino in Keene’s Central Square.
Local property owner Dorrie Masten claimed the new regulations came about after she proposed a new casino for that neighborhood.
I’m hoping the city allows charitable gaming anywhere in our downtown,” Masten was quoted by the New Hampshire Business Review last year. “Anywhere, whether it be my property or someone else’s property. There currently is no restriction, and there wasn’t a restriction until I asked about it and put in an application.”
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