205 CMR 118.05 - RFA-2 Public Hearing in Host Community
(1) For each administratively complete RFA-2
application, the commission shall conduct a public hearing on the application
at an open meeting of the commission pursuant to M.G.L. c. 30A, § 20. The
commission will send written notice of the public hearing to the applicant for
a gaming license and to the city or town clerk of each host and surrounding
community at least 30 days before the public hearing. The commission will post
the notice of the public hearing on its website. The commission shall hold the
public hearing within the host community; provided, however, that the
commission may hold the public hearing in another city or town upon written
request, accompanied by a statement of reasons, from the host community's chief
executive officer as defined in M.G.L. c. 4, § 7, cl. Fifth B.
(2) The chair or his or her designee shall
preside over the public hearing. The applicant shall attend the public hearing,
may make a presentation and respond to questions or public comments as directed
by the chair or his or her designee. The applicant shall have at least one
individual available who, based on actual knowledge, is prepared to respond on
behalf of the applicant to such questions or public comments that can
reasonably be anticipated relative to the contents of its RFA-2 application,
including the scope and quality of the proposed gaming area and amenities, the
integration of the proposed gaming establishment into the host and surrounding
communities and the extent of required mitigation plans. Representatives of the
host community, representatives of the surrounding communities and
representatives of the impacted live entertainment venues may attend the public
hearing, may make a presentation and respond to questions as directed by the
chair or his or her designee. Others may attend the public hearing and may make
a presentation in the discretion of the commission. Prior to the hearing the
commission will prescribe the manner in which it will receive comments from
members of the public, and may take the opportunity during the hearing to read
into the record any letters of support, opposition or concern from members of a
community in the vicinity of the proposed gaming establishment.
(3) For each application, the commission may
in its discretion complete the public hearing in one meeting or continue the
public hearing over two or more meetings. If the commission adjourns the public
hearing, the commission will provide notice of the continued hearing either:
(a) by announcing before adjourning the date,
time and place of the continued public hearing and thereafter posting notice of
the continued public hearing on the commission's website; or
(b) by sending and posting notice in the
manner prescribed in 205 CMR 118.05(1). At the conclusion of the public hearing
the commission will vote to close the public hearing.
(1) Not sooner than 30 days nor later than 90
days after the commission votes to close the public hearing under 205 CMR
118.05(3), the commission shall take action on the application. The commission
may:
(a) Grant the application for a gaming
license with appropriate conditions in accordance with M.G.L. c. 23K, § 21
and
205 CMR
120.02: Conditions of
Licensure;
(b) Deny the
application for a gaming license; or
(c) Extend the period for issuing a decision
in order to obtain any additional information deemed necessary by the
commission for a complete evaluation of the application; provided, however,
that the extension shall be no longer than 30 days.
(2) The commission shall issue not more than
three Category 1 licenses throughout the commonwealth, and not more than one
Category 1 license per region. Within any region, if the commission is not
convinced that there is an applicant that has both met the eligibility criteria
and provided convincing evidence that the applicant will provide value to the
region in which the gaming establishment is proposed to be located and to the
commonwealth, no gaming license shall be awarded in that region.
(3) The commission shall issue not more than
one Category 2 license. If the commission is not convinced that there is an
applicant that has both met the eligibility criteria and provided convincing
evidence that the applicant will provide value to the commonwealth, no Category
2 license shall be awarded.
(4)
Upon denial of an application, the commission shall prepare and file the
commission's decision and, if requested by the applicant, shall further prepare
and file a statement of the reasons for the denial, including specific findings
of fact, pursuant to M.G.L. c. 23K, § 17(f).
(5) For purposes of205 CMR and M.G.L. c. 23K,
notwithstanding any conditions included in accordance with M.G.L. c. 23K,
§ 21 and/or 205 CMR, the award of a gaming license shall be deemed to have
occurred immediately upon a majority vote by the commission to issue a license
to an applicant.
Notes
State regulations are updated quarterly; we currently have two versions available. Below is a comparison between our most recent version and the prior quarterly release. More comparison features will be added as we have more versions to compare.
No prior version found.