A New York State appellate court ruled on Friday in favor of a group that opposes the construction of the $425-million Lago Resort & Casino in Tyre.
Earlier this year, a number of residents brought the matter to court, claiming that the town board did not comply with an important environmental law when reviewing the multi-million-dollar project in June 2014. As mentioned above, the Fourth Judicial Department of the New York State Supreme Court’s Rochester Appellate Division said yesterday that town officials had indeed violated the law in question.
The court ruled that the Tyre board had not provided a comprehensive written explanation on its finding that the proposed gambling venue would not have a negative impact on the environment. Under the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act, such an explanation is a must. Otherwise, any environment-related decision made would be annulled.
The town board had previously explained that the reasons why they had deemed the project harmless were evident in the records of the meeting, during which the decision had been made. However, the Rochester appellate court ruled that this explanation was not sufficient to comply with the environmental law.
It could be said that the group of opponents, who call themselves Casino Free Tyre, won an important victory, as the ruling resulted in a number of license application requirements being invalidated. Mario J. Fratto, a lawyer for the suing party, commented on Friday that the latest events are indeed “the light at the end of the tunnel.”
As mentioned above, Lago Resort & Casino is to be built in Tyre, a small town between Rochester and Syracuse. According to the initial estimates, the construction of the property would cost up to $425 million. Rochester-based real estate developer Wilmorite Inc. is in charge of the expensive project.
Lago Resort & Casino is one of the three winning bids, which were backed by the New York Gaming Facility Location Board late last year. Following the latest announcements, a spokesman for the board said that it is currently reviewing the appellate court’s decision.
Steven Greenberg, a spokesman for Wilmorite, pointed out on Friday that the ruling was only “on technical grounds” and they expect that it would be “rectified” in the weeks to come. He also expressed confidence that the project would eventually be awarded a license by the New York State Gaming Commission.
The state gambling regulator is expected to start issuing the casino licenses sometime this fall.
