Search continues for Westbrook racino site

WESTBROOK – With a referendum less than a week away, Scarborough Downs racetrack is continuing its search for land where it could locate a horse track with slot machines if voters give the OK.

The track has contacted at least four Westbrook property owners to see whether they would be interested in selling land where Scarborough Downs could build a racino if a Dec. 30 referendum passes.

Three property owners have said that they aren’t interested. A lawyer for another landowner would not comment on discussions with the track.

The lack of a location has played a prominent role in early debates on the issue and colored the first reactions of local leaders. Officials with Scarborough Downs and its business partner, Penn National Gaming, are downplaying the importance of having a specific location named before the vote.

Eric Schippers, spokesman for Penn National, said a site would be disclosed when property is secured. In the meantime, Penn National and Scarborough Downs have created a campaign that portrays the referendum as the start of a discussion about a racino, not a final decision.

They say if voters approve a racino, a second vote will be held at a later date once the city has all of the details, including the site, zoning requirements and a plan for compensating the city as a host community.

“We have been trying to make sure everyone understands this is the first step in the process,” Schippers said.

Without a specific site, the debate in Westbrook is conceptual in nature, with residents unsure how a racino would affect traffic on their streets or the view from their back yards.

That differs from Saco, where Scarborough Downs has secured a site. Saco residents also will vote Dec. 30 on whether to allow a racino on Route 1.

Dennis Bailey, spokesman for the anti-racino group Casinos No!, questioned whether Penn National and Scarborough Downs would reveal a site in Westbrook, even if a contract were secured.

“I think it’s a strategy on their part not to say where it would go,” Bailey said.

Maine voters in November approved a statewide referendum allowing slot machines at Bangor Raceway and Scarborough Downs, but only if residents in the home municipalities approved of them as well.

Bangor voters approved of a racino last June, but Scarborough voters rejected a referendum that would have allowed a racino in their town.

The new law allows Scarborough Downs to find a location in another town if it is within 5 miles of its present site and local voters approve of racinos by the end of the year.