Wynn's Boston-Area Casino Put 'On Hold'Mayor Of Nearby Somerville Challenging A Wynn Permit |
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Just when it looked like all the obstacles for a $1.7 billion Boston-area casino for Steve Wynn had been removed, the neighboring city of Somerville has figured out a way to put the project back on ice.
Wynn Resorts said Wednesday that the casino has been put on hold until Somerville’s legal fight against the casino has played out, according to a report from the Associated Press. The company had been planning to break ground this spring and open in late 2018.
“Unfortunately, construction is effectively on hold because of the appeal,” Wynn executive Robert DeSalvio said at the Wednesday press conference. “But I want to be clear: We are not going anywhere. We will build this project.”
Somerville is challenging an environmental permit that Wynn received for the casino, claiming that the casino will negatively impact the environment and the health of residents. In order to build the casino, Wynn must clean up pollution that was already there. The casino site was formerly home to Monsanto.
According to The Boston Globe, Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone claims that there will be health consequences from the estimated 18,000 cars that will come to the casino each day.
The mayor reportedly wants $1.5 million in annual payments for 15 years, as well as Wynn to fund improvements to nine Somerville intersections near the casino. Wynn has refused the demand, offering the city $650,000 in annual payments instead.
Supporters of the casino say that Curtatone is delaying the creation of thousands of new jobs.
Somerville’s continued resistance to the casino comes just weeks after the city of Boston, once a fierce opponent of the project, agreed to drop its litigation against the development.
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