Chamber News Feed: Somerset County, NJ: Somerset County freeholders have passed a resolution supporting two bills in the state legislature giving municipalities the right to reject off-track wagering inside their borders. But a long-delayed proposal for just such a facility in Hillsborough may be getting closer to reality. The Somerset County Board of Chosen Freeholders last Tuesday passed a resolution in support of Senate Bill 2283, sponsored by state Sen. Christopher Kip Bateman, and its companion Assembly Bill 3127, sponsored by Assembly members Jack M. Ciattarelli and Donna M. Simon, and introduced in June. Those bills would permit municipalities to reject proposed off-track wagering facilities within their borders and would remove a five-year property tax abatement on the facilities land and building, the freeholders said in a statement.Municipalities should be able to make their own decisions about permitted land uses within their borders, and all businesses, including off-track wagering facilities, should be held to the same regulations, permitting, and taxes, Freeholder Director Patrick Scaglione said. We hope that the legislature will act swiftly in favor of the proposed changes, Scaglione said. This law in its current form keeps local governments from carrying out the wishes of their constituents, as we have seen this year in Hillsborough. In April of this year, about two dozen Hillsborough residents let the township committee know of their opposition to the Favorites at Hillsborough OTW establishment proposed for the former Maestro 206 site on Route 206 south. That facility was proposed by Darby Development LLC, whose president and CEO, Hillsborough resident Robert Kulina, is also president & CEO of Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport. The application for the proposal is still in the hands of the New Jersey Racing Commission, which will make a decision whether to move forward after a public hearing in Hillsborough and a decision by the state attorney general, Kulina said. The application has been stalled due to the commission deeming it incomplete, Kulina said. Kulina said that a grounds lease arrangement with the New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority is being revised, and the legal part of the process is dragging on. The building is complete except for minor stuff, Kulina said. Its slightly frustrating but its all related to the grounds lease. The lawyers are just cleaning it up. Kulina said he hopes the application will be ready for the commission this week, with public hearings finally possible by October, long after the initial May timetable. Hillsborough Mayor Doug Tomson told residents at an April public information session that the fate of the proposal lies not with the township but with the New Jersey Racing Commission and the New Jersey attorney general. And Tomson said even if the new bills become law giving back rejection rights to the towns, it would not retroactively impact the Hillsborough application. Many residents at the public meetings expressed concerns that sports betting would be the next step if the facility is approved. Hillsborough resident Susan Gulliford told media shes concerned because a recent state directive effectively allowing sports betting at casinos and racetracks came from acting Attorney General John Hoffman, who also has the final say on the Hillsborough OTW application. It has nothing to do with off-track wagering, but the sports wagering is vital for Monmouth Park, Kulina said. We have 2,500 to 3,000 jobs between the front and back side, and this will assure those jobs wont vanish, and we will be adding hundreds of jobs. Its something the voters wanted and passed overwhelmingly, and illegally its something thats been going on for ages Kulina said. Its a big deal for the economy and the survival of Monmouth Park. Tomson said if the Hillsborough application finally gets approved by the racing commission, it will trigger a public hearing, which the township will announce on its website and through local media. Your Bernards Township Regional Chamber of Commerce Works for You!
Posted on: Tue, 16 Sep 2014 10:07:35 +0000
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