Nassau County residents will get their probability to pontificate on Las Vegas Sands’ proposal to construct a on line casino resort on the website of Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, NY at a public assembly of the county legislature on Monday, December 9.
Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, NY. The county is holding a public listening to on Dec. 9 relating to Sands’ proposed on line casino resort undertaking. (Picture: Asbury Park Press)
Scheduling of the assembly arrived after Sands submitted an in depth draft environmental influence assertion (DEIS) to the legislature in November — an 800-page doc that residents can view on the legislature’s website. The remark interval on the environmental assessment runs by January 6.
Each the December 9 assembly and the environmental assessment are important to the gaming firm’s and Nassau County’s hopes of successful one of many three yet-to-be-awarded downstate on line casino licenses as a result of final yr, New York State Supreme Court docket Justice Sarika Kapoor dominated that the coliseum lease switch settlement between the county and Sands violated New York’s open assembly legal guidelines and the state’s environmental analysis course of.
It’s anticipated that New York regulators will award these three coveted licenses late subsequent yr, and bids dealing with environmental challenges and authorized overhangs might be swiftly rejected.
Sands On line casino May Be a Moneymaker for Lengthy Island
As is the case with most of the practically dozen downstate on line casino bids, Sands’ Nassau County proposal has confronted opposition, particularly within the type of close by Hoftstra College and a few local people teams.
However, the undertaking doesn’t lack for supporters, together with native politicians and labor leaders who see the Sands gaming venue stoking job creation and tax income. Sands estimates that if the Lengthy Island on line casino involves life, it could create $563 million in annual taxes. Of that determine, $440 million would go to native colleges and the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA), in response to Lengthy Island Enterprise Information.
Sands is proposing a world-class Built-in Resort that comes with a number of elements of leisure, enterprise and leisure to offer a variety of experiences for the local people and friends,” mentioned LVS within the DEIS. “The Built-in Resort idea leverages the complementary journey patterns of enterprise vacationers who attend conferences and conferences throughout workdays and leisure vacationers and guests who go to on weekends.”
It’s estimated that the undertaking would create 7,000 building jobs and 13K everlasting roles, lots of which might be union jobs.
Vitality, Water Considerations
Opposition teams have cited vitality and water consumption considerations as among the many causes they object to the Lengthy Island on line casino, with some noting Nassau County’s water infrastructure is at present antiquated and strained. Within the DEIS, Sands estimated the built-in resort’s water calls for can be practically 110K gallons per day plus one other 14,613 gallons per day for irrigation.
For water demand tied to the development of the on line casino resort, Sands is within the means of designing and testing new wells. That might be most relevant to Part 2 as a result of Part 1 is predicted to create solely minimal new demand for water.
Relating to vitality use, Sands is promising a give attention to sustainability, carbon mitigation, and the usage of renewable vitality.
“Sands’ proposed vitality technique would assist to preserve electrical energy, reduce potential carbon emissions, and keep away from vital water consumption related to cooling towers, which have sometimes been used to generate chilled water for air-con on related developments,” the operator mentioned within the DEIS. “Furthering Sands’ dedication to vitality conservation and clear vitality technology, the roofs of the proposed parking garages, assembly and convention area, and leisure venue would come with the combination of photovoltaic (PV) panels.”
