Big chips are falling into place

Preliminary plans for Belmont’s casino call for hotel, soccer field

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At a meeting last month, representatives of the Shinnecock Indian Nation and Elmont’s Coalition for Sustainable Development produced a conceptual development plan for a casino at Belmont Park, which includes a 400- to 600-room hotel, a gaming facility and entertainment complex with restaurants, a renovated Long Island Rail Road station and a soccer field.

The hotel rooms, according to the preliminary plan, would adjoin a modernized racetrack grandstand, and the casino would be built on a 35- to 45-acre area south of the racetrack that is now used for parking. The plan also includes the construction of a tiered parking garage.

Nearly seven years ago, the Coalition for Sustainable Development established a Community Vision Plan, which emphasized the development of the park’s deteriorating south parking lot, including the construction of a shopping center and restaurants. The south lot is now used by the New York Racing Association for concerts and car shows.

The Shinnecock Nation’s tentative plan has projected 12,000 full-time jobs at the casino and hotel, and more than 3,450 construction jobs.

A source close to the project, who declined to be identified, said that although the conceptual plan follows the vision of many community leaders, the Shinnecock are still in the process of meeting with community members and political leaders, and a plan has not yet been finalized. The Shinnecock proposal still has to be approved on the state and federal levels, and the tribe has not yet met with representatives of Gov. Andrew Cuomo — a vital step in the casino’s development, the source added.

“We plan to have a number of meetings with the community,” he said. “We want to hear what the community has to say. We want to start from the beginning, and be good neighbors.”

The Elmont community has generally welcomed the Belmont casino plan, which was initially announced in May by County Executive Ed Mangano, but many local organizations want to ensure that additional development takes place.

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