The City of Somerville has decided to drop all lawsuits against the Wynn Boston Harbor casino after Mayor Joe Curtatone stated that his administration was satisfied with the changes that Wynn Resorts had made to the Wynn Harbor waterfront.
Wynn Resorts has had to battle a number of legal challenges from the City of Somerville and the City of Boston over the development of its $2.1 billion Wynn Boston Harbor casino in Everett. Mayor Curtatone managed to get Wynn Harbor’s casino license reduced from 85 years to 50 years and get Wynn to allot more public space when compared to its initial proposal. One of the biggest concerns was over environmental and traffic concerns in Charlestown and Sullivan Square.
These concerns have now been addressed as Wynn has agreed to fund improvements at Sullivan Square and also operate a ferry service that will help to reduce traffic congestion. Mayor Curtatone confirmed that all charges have now been dropped and as all of the City’s major concerns had been addressed by Wynn Resorts.
In a statement, Mayor Curtatone said “The city of Somerville successfully resolved a number of our community’s core concerns regarding the Wynn casino project through our recent appeal of the casino’s [waterfront] license. While we did not get everything we asked for, the appeal did yield significant and meaningful results for our residents, so we feel the process worked.”
When Mayor Curtatone decided to file charges against the Wynn Boston Harbor casino earlier this year, Steve Wynn, the chairman of Wynn Resorts stated that he was not very interested in speaking to Curtatone but committed that Wynn Resorts would proceed with its Everett casino. The Department of Environmental Protection also backed Wynn Resorts by issuing a critical environmental permit with just minor changes. Wynn Resorts recently confirmed that both Curtatone and Steve Wynn have been in contact to smooth things out. Mayor Curtatone stated that now that all lawsuits have been dropped, he hope the City and the Wynn Boston harbor can be good neighbors.
The Mayor confirmed that no additional financial settlement had been paid in order for the City to drop its lawsuits. The City of Somerville is already expected to receive around $650,000 each year in the form of mitigation payments from Wynn Resorts. The Mayor has confirmed that Wynn Resorts and the City have agreed to work together to address any traffic mitigation issues that could potentially arise from the Wynn Harbor opening.
Robert DeSalvio, Wynn Boston Harbor’s president stated that the company was happy to see all charges dropped as they could now direct their full attention on developing the casino which is scheduled to open in 2019. DeSalvio said that the Everett casino is expected to be a major economic catalyst and generate thousands of employment opportunities for the Commonwealth.