Concord residents apparently do not favor gambling since they have previously rejected in-person sports betting, so why does Concord allow casinos? City ordinances do not distinguish between occasional use of a facility for bingo games and full-time gambling establishments. A bill in the state legislature would increase total buy-in from $125 to $2,500 per session without the usual regulation found elsewhere, so what used to be just a fun event will become more attractive to problem gamblers and organized crime.

Fortunately Concord does not have to wait for annual town meeting to change zoning regulations, it just requires a planning board hearing and a city council hearing which can be accomplished in a few months. Unfortunately the planning board isn’t acting on known individual flaws in the current zoning ordinance (such as the limited amount of rail-served commercial and industrial property foolishly being converted to housing) because they are busy with a proposed so-called form-based zoning ordinance which is designed to turn Concord into a white, middle-class community where it never snows - for instance banning inexpensive housing such as mobile homes and portable tiny houses.

The planning board needs to put form-based zoning aside long enough to deal with immediate critical issues, if not permanently. An ordinance limiting the number of hours per week that gaming is permitted in each structure would be nice, as would persuading the state that communities should be allowed to limit the size of wagers to below the state limit.

Roy Schweiker

Concord

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