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Show Us Foxwoods' Plan NOW!

letters so far.

Update 7/11/07: The Planning Commission has posted portions of the Foxwoods' Plan of Development on its web site.

It is a disappointing offering. There's nothing new with the exception of one traffic study.

Everything else we've seen before. And the most important documents are omitted, the detailed zoning plans which demonstrate how the Foxwoods' facility meets the CED zoning code. They look like this.

Perhaps you will have better luck than I persuading Janice Woodcock to give residents a fair shake when the Planning Commission considers next week whether to approve Foxwoods Casino's Plan of Development. I asked Ms. Woodcock, the Executive Director of the Commission, to post the Plan on the Commission's web site by 3:00 pm today, July 10, 2007 so that residents will be able to prepare for next week’s meeting on July 17, 2007.

Please call Ms. Woodcock TODAY at 215-683-4600 and see if you can find out when the Commission intends to share the Plan with the public. While you're at it, you might ask whoever answers the phone:

1. When was the Plan of Development submitted by Foxwoods?
2. How many pages are in the plan?
3. How much time has the Planning Commission staff spent studying the Foxwoods Plan of Development?
4. How much time have the eight members of the Planning Commission spent studying the Foxwoods Plan of Development?
5. How much time, if any, will the Commission give the public to review the Plan BEFORE its meeting on July 17, 2007?
6. Why didn't the Commission release Foxwoods' Plan of Development to the public when it decided last week to consider Foxwoods' Plan?
7. Of the $3 million the Planning Commission receives annually from City taxpayers, how much money is spent on informing taxpaying residents about the SugarHouse and Foxwoods plans?

If the person who answers the phone can't answer your questions, ask to speak to someone who can.

NO time? Write Ms. Woodcock a letter. You can copy and past the following or make up your own.

Dear Ms. Woodcock:

Please post Foxwoods' Plan of Development on the Planning Commission web site immediately.

Based on past history, I am concerned that the Commission will not provide the public with a meaningful opportunity to comment on Foxwoods’ proposal. When the Commission considered the SugarHouse Casino in May, it asked neighbors to comment on a Plan which was made public only after the Commission had voted to approve it.

It is not fair to ask residents to respond to a plan of development if they aren't given sufficient time to review that plan. If a casino were going in your neighborhood, would a handful of days be enough time for you to review a project of this size and potential destructiveness?

More information

• Read letters others have written to their officials on this issue.

Ed Goppelt, Faxbank Manager
webmaster @ hallwatch.org