Las Vegas Sands lease: Legislators want community's 'immediate needs' funded

A library with flooding problems, nearly 500 homes approaching foreclosure and a fire department that relies on fewer than 100 volunteers to respond to more than 1,400 calls a year. 

These are some of the issues in the 36,000-resident community of Uniondale that have come into focus as Las Vegas Sands seeks control of a large portion of the hamlet: the 72-acre, county-owned site of the Nassau Coliseum, commonly known as the Nassau Hub.

Nassau legislators are preparing for a final vote Monday on a 99-year lease agreement with Sands, which plans a $4 billion casino resort with hotel rooms, ballrooms and conference spaces, a live entertainment venue, celebrity-chef restaurants and a health club and day spa. Sands estimates the development will generate $2 billion annually.

In a report released Thursday, the county's Office of Legislative Budget Review said the proposal represents "a conundrum." 

"Community preferences, wants and concerns need to be weighed against the overall fiscal benefit to the county, as the project represents a tremendous opportunity that needs to be considered in order to maintain the county’s financial stability," the report said.

Decision time

The lease, which cleared the planning commission in April and the legislature's Rules Committee on May 8, has appeared on track for the votes needed to advance it through the full legislature. 

It is the first of several major steps Sands needs to move the development forward. Others include an environmental review, zoning approvals from the Town of Hempstead, support from community panels and advisory boards, and a highly competitive state gaming license.

Legis. Siela Bynoe, who represents the district that includes Uniondale, said before the project begins she would like to see funding for the library, the fire department and a nonprofit community land trust that helps homeowners avoid foreclosure.

"There are some immediate needs — right now — in the Uniondale community," Bynoe (D-Westbury) said.

She argues the development's "host community" should not have to wait until the opening of the casino resort to begin receiving benefits.

"I'm challenged to even consider supporting such a vote without those considerations being met," Bynoe said.

While none of Nassau's 19 legislators have taken a firm public stance on the project, some have acknowledged the gravity of their decision. They said they are weighing residents' concerns of traffic and crime against the potential economic opportunity.

Within two months of legislators' lease approval, Sands must pay a lump sum of $54 million to the county — no strings attached.

The company then would pay $5 million in rent, $2 million in community benefits and $900,000 for public safety annually regardless of whether anything is built on the property. If Sands secures a commercial gambling license from the state — a requirement for developing its proposed casino — the annual rent rises to $10 million, the community benefits to $4 million and the public safety fee to $1.8 million. Revenues to the county and Hempstead town would exceed $100 million annually, based on Sands' revenue projection of $2 billion.

Bynoe has asked the administration of County Executive Bruce Blakeman and Sands executives for an amendment to the lease that would accelerate by about two years the millions of dollars in community benefits promised to the surrounding area. She said failing to address the immediate needs of Uniondale is a "fatal error in the community benefits portion of the lease." 

Though Sands already has agreed in the lease that Uniondale would get 40% of the community benefits program, executive vice president Ron Reese said additional funding for the hamlet will be included in the company's application for a state gaming license.

Sands executives, in the Rules Committee meeting on May 8, told Bynoe they would agree to provide the additional funding.

"We absolutely plan to honor that commitment," Reese said in an interview Thursday. "It doesn't appear as though it will be in the lease, but there are other binding ways to solidify that commitment." 

Community concerns

Legis. Thomas McKevitt, a Republican who represents neighboring East Meadow, said he has "a lot of respect for Legis. Bynoe" and her stance.

"We've agreed that our communities are the most impacted and they need to be considered when this moves forward," said McKevitt, who was still undecided Friday on his vote.

"I have spent more time thinking about this than anything ever in my entire career, without a doubt. I have not thought of anything else," said McKevitt, who spent 12 years in the state assembly and the past 5 1/2 in the Nassau legislature.

McKevitt, 52, has lived in East Meadow his entire life, including the years the New York Islanders brought four Stanley Cups home to the Coliseum. 

"My house is less than a 10-minute walk from the Coliseum. It is very personal to me. People in East Meadow are both ways about this thing. I've heard both sides from many, many people in the area, Obviously, the great concern is traffic and crime, and these are issues that affect me, too," McKevitt said.

Studies that examine the impact of a casino on traffic and crime in the area have not been mentioned at this point. 

Sands has said it plans to build a north-south road with an entrance on Charles Lindbergh Boulevard. The company has agreed to build a 1,500-square-foot police substation with parking for eight police vehicles. The company would reimburse the county up to $500,000 toward the cost and expense of the interior construction, according to the lease agreement.

For Pearl Jacobs, president of the 300-member Nostrand Gardens Civic Association in Uniondale, no amount of community funding persuades her and others in the "Say No to the Casino" opposition group to support the proposal.

She calls the plan "environmental injustice" and hopes legislators vote against it. 

"You cannot put money over the health of residents. Data shows that residents in minority communities suffer from a higher rate of asthma. This will not be good for our communities," Jacobs said. "We are fighting this at the legislature on Monday, and if it goes forward, we are going to fight it every step of the way."

By Candice Ferrette

candice.ferrette@newsday.comcandiceferrette

Candice Ferrette covers Nassau County government and politics on Long Island. She has been a reporter at Newsday since 2011.