Kennedy seeks deal with Suffolk addressing traffic problems

LYNN – Casino gambling at the Suffolk Downs racetrack could affect Lynn traffic, even housing values, Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy wrote in a letter asking Suffolk Downs officials to negotiate a “surrounding community” agreement with the city.Suffolk might pay for local road improvements and even give the city money if track owners and city officials can forge the agreement, Massachusetts Gaming Commission spokesman Michael Sangalang said Thursday.?The Gaming Act requires each applicant to come to agreement with communities surrounding it saying if a casino would be built these are the things a community would get: For instance, roads – a certain amount of money,” he said.Sangalang said Lynn officials can petition the commission to designate the city as a surrounding community if they cannot negotiate a surrounding community agreement with Suffolk.?The commission would prefer the applicant and community hash it out on their own, but the commission could designate the city as a surrounding community,” Sangalang said.Suffolk Downs is competing with two other casino license applicants to be picked by the commission sometime early next year as a casino designated to operate in Eastern Massachusetts.In her letter, Kennedy asks Suffolk for money to pay for “…a study to assess potential impacts?” a Suffolk casino may have on Lynn residents.?The City of Lynn is plagued by a lack of direct, free flowing traffic into and out of our city limits…we are closely monitoring developments at Suffolk Downs and how they might impact transportation in and around the City of Lynn,” she wrote.The 2011 state law establishing the commission required Suffolk to negotiate host community agreements with Revere and Boston.Suffolk and Mayor Daniel Rizzo hammered out an agreement for Revere requiring gambling revenue be spent on a new city youth center, improvements to the city stadium and to address public safety problems linked to gambling.Revere voters are scheduled to vote for or against the agreement on Nov. 5. Rizzo has been hosting public discussions on the agreement in advance of the vote and City Councilor at large Brian Arrigo, in a letter, said Caesars? decision to withdraw from its Suffolk partnership “should be a major red flag for any Revere resident.”Suffolk restated its commitment to winning casino designation from the Gaming Commission Thursday by announcing plans to spend $40 million improving Saugus horse breeding farm Indian Rock Stables.?The racing improvement plan is part of (Suffolk?s) overall proposal to develop a $1 billion world-class resort at the historic 78-year-old racetrack,” track owners stated in a press release.Suffolk owners in 2012 unveiled a plan to spend $1 billion on a casino complex built around the Revere-East Boston racetrack. The commission is holding a “suitability” hearing on Suffolk on Oct. 29 in the wake of Caesars Entertainment?s decision to withdraw as Suffolk?s partner following the commission?s background investigation in Caesars.