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Thursday, April 17, 2008

Most Show Support for Downs Move

By By Laura Nesbitt /
Mountain View Telegraph
      After nearly 3½ hours of testimony at the New Mexico Racing Commission Tuesday in Moriarty, commissioners asked the 100 or so people remaining to either stand to show support or stand if they were against the proposed move by the Downs at Albuquerque to Moriarty.
       About 80 people stood to show support and two stood against the move, according to Sheila Murphy, city planning and zoning director.
       At least 500 people attended the New Mexico Racing Commission hearing at the Moriarty Civic Center and most of them spoke in favor, or signed 397 letters in support, of the planned move by Downs President Paul Blanchard to bring his racetrack and casino from Albuquerque to a location north of Interstate 40 and east of N.M. 41.
       There were some voices speaking against the move.
       “The (Downs’ application) does not appear to be even a good faith effort to comply with the commission’s regulations,” states a letter that Laguna Pueblo 1st Lt. Gov. Richard Luarkie handed to the commissioners.
       The application’s defects, according to the letter, include a lack of adequate notice, failure to comply with regulations and a presumed loss of revenue to the Laguna people, the Laguna letter states.
       Joe Tenorio, an attorney at Chestnut Law Offices and representative for Acoma Pueblo, also spoke against the move.
       Tenorio told commissioners that on Monday he had spoken with Acoma Pueblo Gov. Chandler Sanchez, who was unable to be present at Tuesday’s hearing.
       “The racing commission should deny the application for the racetrack in Moriarty,” Tenorio said, listing several reasons for the denial.
       “We have not seen the feasibility study,” Tenorio said. He added that there was no market nor economic impact study.
       “Without these, how can an applicant prove that this will be beneficial to the area?” Tenorio asked.
       Negative comments also came from the crowd.
       “We are not opposed to economic development for this area but are opposed to this particular site,” said Carol Mills in an e-mail along with the letter she submitted to the commissioners.
       Mills’ concerns include water, waste management, traffic, medical services, inadequate fire equipment and crime, she states in her letter.
       “There’s a lot of questions. I would have thought that there’d be concrete plans in place,” Mills said on Tuesday night.
       Her husband said he believed a 20-page color booklet from the Downs was inadequate.
       “These people should be sharing that information,” Douglas Mills said.
       Blanchard has been considering moving the Downs from the state-owned Expo New Mexico in Albuquerque since at least the beginning of 2006, according to an interview with then-commission chair Sandy Jones.
       Moriarty annexed 700 acres east of Howard Cavasos Boulevard about 10 years ago at the request of the King family. On Tuesday, Blanchard and General Manager Don Cook gave a presentation to the packed civic center crowd describing their plans for 500 acres of that site.
       About 230 acres or “more than twice the size that we have now,” Blanchard said, will be used for a racetrack, gaming hall, stables, administrative buildings, parking lot, veterinary clinic and hotel.
       In the gaming hall the public will be able to view the finish of a live race, watch simulcast racing events, play the slot machines or watch live entertainment. There will also be a “very nice quality restaurant (with) white tablecloths. Someone could sit down with a date, wife, or friends and have a nice experience,” Blanchard said.
       The race course features a 1-mile long main dirt track that will be constructed in four layers including an embankment, intermediate sub-base drainage, upper base course and racing surface with 6 inches of sand, silt and clay, the master plan states.
       The track has a 90-foot-wide homestretch and an 80-foot-wide backstretch. The radius of each turn on the track will be approximately 417 feet, and each stretch will be 1,320 feet.
       The distance from the end of the last turn to the finish line will be 990 feet, according to a master plan concept.
       The rest of the proposed “exclusive experience” racino includes breeding and training facilities, Blanchard told the crowd.
       In response to questions from the commissioners, Blanchard promised to remain flexible with his plans.
       “All kidding aside, we’ll certainly look at” ideas and suggestions from the commissioners, Blanchard said.
   

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