RESIDENT GROUP ON PUBLIC HEARING: DON’T FAST-TRACK PROCESS; TIME PROBLEM “YOUR OWN MAKING”
East Greenbush, NY (October 7, 2014). Tomorrow night, residents of East Greenbush and Save East Greenbush attorney Jeff Meyer will be on hand to submit comments at the Town Planning Public Hearing at Columbia High School. The developers of the proposed casino in East Greenbush have only recently begun the State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR). Save East Greenbush demands a rigorous and thorough review of any and all possible impacts of the proposed project on its community.
Without a completed environmental review, the applicant will not be eligible to be awarded a gaming license. The SEQR process, if done properly, can take up to two years.
“We don't want a casino because we know better," says spokesperson Cara Benson. "The developer’s rosy projections don’t cut it with us. Every case study that isn’t paid for by the gaming industry clearly demonstrates the adverse impacts a casino has on a community. We require independent analyses of the proposed project, not a truncated timeline so they can stay in the running for a gaming license. They could have started this last June. Instead they were busy trying to limit public input by having closed door meetings with the town.”
Wednesday night’s public hearing on the environmental review process will be to determine the scope that the Environmental Impact Statement must address. The proposed timeline for review should be given the maximum under the guidelines of SEQR, which suggests specific periods for “large, complex, and/or controversial projects.” As this proposal meets all three criteria, the lengthier - not the fast-track - review periods should be exercised.
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