A lawsuit filed by the Village of Garden City wants to prevent Nassau County from leasing Nassau Coliseum to Las Vegas Sands (LVS) for its proposed casino. In the suit, Garden City claims recent lawmaker and regulator approvals violated the state constitution and Nassau County’s administrative code. LVS aims to build a $6 billion casino resort on the contested 72-acre Uniondale property.
The lawsuit, filed in early December, names several defendants: Nassau County, its Legislature, and Las Vegas Sands. It contends that the court should void the approved 42-year Nassau-Sands lease deal because it did not undergo a proper environmental review.
From the lawsuit:
The Legislature did not take a ‘hard look’ at the potential environmental impacts of the 42-year lease, in violation of [State Environmental Quality Review Act]… The 42-year lease has the potential to result in several significant adverse environmental impacts.
Suit claims deal violated administrative code
The filing cites Article 78, a law allowing New Yorkers to challenge the actions of state and government agencies, individual officials, and even private companies.
It argues that Nassau’s Planning Commission acted “arbitrarily, capriciously and in violation” of the administrative code by claiming the lease was consistent with Nassau’s long-term development plan.
Specifically, the complaint alleges that Nassau County bypassed State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) requirements when obtaining the lease for the proposed casino.
The Act requires that state and government agencies consider a project’s environmental, social, and economic impacts equally. It also requires decision-makers to prioritize a project’s ecological significance throughout the multi-step decision process.
As a result, last month, Garden City’s board of trustees voted 5-4 to pay $150,000 in legal fees to pursue the case. Village of Garden City mayor Mary Carter Flanagan cast the deciding vote.
In a statement, Carter Flanagan said the “onerous” regulations exist for a reason.
The Village Board was very disappointed to learn that Nassau County and Las Vegas Sands bypassed requisite environmental review processes to fast track the proposed casino development. While regulations can be onerous, they exist for a reason and that is to protect local residents from any adverse impact. We are confident that the courts will uphold our position.
Earlier lawsuit voided initial 99-year deal
Sands’ latest setback comes after New York Supreme Court Judge Sarika Kapoor ruled last year that Nassau violated SEQRA and the state’s Open Meetings Law. In that case—initiated by Hofstra University— the decision voided the 99-year Coliseum lease first awarded to LVS.
At the time, university trustees deemed the Nassau hub “an entirely inappropriate location for a casino.”
However, in October, New York’s Appellate division reversed Judge Kapoor’s ruling and sent the case back to Nassau’s Supreme Court. In the meantime, Sands and Nassau County agreed to the 42-year Coliseum lease, which is now under pressure from Garden City’s trustees.
Otherwise, LVS is undertaking an environmental review to secure approvals to develop the property further. An environmental hearing held on Dec. 9 in Mineola attracted more public interest than the 200-capacity room could hold.
In a statement, community group Say No to the Casino applauded Garden City’s lawsuit.
After Hofstra University successfully sued on grounds that the county mishandled the first attempt to issue Las Vegas Sands a lease for the Nassau Hub, the county yet again showed blatant disregard for federal, state, and even their own county laws in their second attempt to push the lease through.
Garden City, they added, filed documents showing the county again skirted the law to secure a lease for LVS without proper environmental review.
The 70 acres of land at the HUB belong to the taxpayers of Nassau County. Through a faulty process, the officials we elected to act in our best interests, handed the keys to the heart of our county to a predatory gambling company.
Bonus attempted to contact LVS, County Executive Bruce Blakeman, the Nassau County Legislature, and the Village of Garden City. We received no immediate responses.
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