Community says no to Hard Rock Casino, process to continue
Developers of the Santo Domingo Hard Rock Hotel and Casino project have still not presented a social impact study of the project as requested by community groups as a legal requirement for the Ministry of Environment to issue construction permits. Nevertheless, the Ministry validated the second public hearing held at the Ministry of Environment on Friday, 6 August 2016, where it told interested parties that the assessment process is not over. Next step is disclosure of the environmental impact study online in 15 days prior to the decision whether or not to issue an environmental permit.
Construction of the hotel and casino, the largest in the city center, has already begun in an upscale residential-commercial area of the city, at the heart of the Poligono Central.
The casino, which would be the largest in Santo Domingo, is the main concern for local residents, whose representatives are demanding that the company present the results of a comprehensive study to confirm the negative social impact they say the proposed casino, which will cover an area of nearly 2,500 square meters, could have in the community.
The proposed casino is similar in size to the Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas (that has 2,800 sq. meters). The Santo Domingo casino is similar in size to that already in operation at the Hard Rock Hotel in Punta Cana, and is owned and operated by the same companies. The difference is that there are few local residents around the Punta Cana resort and the hotel itself has 1,700 rooms, meaning its focus is primarily on tourists. On the other hand, the Santo Domingo hotel would have 387 rooms, thus Hard Rock Hotel & Casino International is heavily targeting the local market. It describes the proposed Santo Domingo hotel “as an opportunity to fill a gap in the marketplace for a hotel that also acts as an entertainment destination for the local market,” as Frank Maduro, vice president of marketing at AIC Hotel Group promoters of the hotel, said recently in an interview with Travel Pulse.
During the public hearing at the Ministry of Environment, the developers distributed a press release announcing a 30-floor hotel. Architectural plans nevertheless adding up to a 39-floor building (seven underground floors + 32 ground floors, including six floors with amenities) in the city center at the corners of Av. Abraham Lincoln and Calle Andres Julio Aybar were also presented. When the hotel was announced by Hard Rock International in January 2016, 40 floors were mentioned.
The promoters highlighted the positive impact the hotel would have through the creation of between 600 and 900 permanent jobs and 2000-3000 during the construction stage, as well as stimulating complementary investments in the area. The company public relations firm again distributed a press release indicating the hotel would be 30 floors.
While the city limit for the area is 23 floors, the developers said they chose to not comply with the zoning limitation on the grounds that the high-rise design will create a landmark for the city on the 5,078 square meter lot.
Project consultant Mario Mendez said that in order to reduce traffic jams, a concert hall was no longer being included in the project, only the convention center. The company operates the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Punta Cana where the convention center doubles up as a concert hall. Seven floors of parking with a total of 520 spaces are planned, with a heavy reliance on taxi service and valet parking. The community has also expressed concern that the project would worsen the already chaotic traffic in the chosen location of the hotel and entertainment center.
Speaking for a community of an estimated 150,000 residents, architect Omar Rancier reiterated that the project must comply with the urban rulings for the area covered by Municipal Ruling 94-98 and Environmental Law 64-00. The architect who is serving as consultant to the neighborhood boards explained that as contemplated the project would have a density of 1,333 room per hectare, that is three times more than the permitted density of 400 rooms per hectare.
He pointed to the site location violation of the zoning that prohibits the location of casinos 500 meters from schools and hospitals, and other density and height violations by the project in its current form.
On the other hand, taxi association representatives spoke in favor of the project at the meeting because of the work it would create for them.
Rafael Paz, executive director of the National Business Council, who said he was speaking as a resident of the area, backed the project saying it would create jobs, which he said was the country’s main problem. Stating that other similar developments would follow, he suggested that affected city residents could relocate to suburban residential areas such as Arroyo Hondo, which was met with loud boos from those in attendance.
Economist Antonio Flaquer countered Paz’s push for giving priority to the jobs that would be created, saying that the country’s main problem was institutional weakness and failure to comply with the law. He said that law-abiding countries attracted foreign investment. “They need to comply with the laws,” he stated.
Not every investment that creates jobs is good, Flaquer said, in reference to the proposed casino, pointing out that pornography also creates a lot of jobs. He asked: “Do we need a casino?” and mentioned the country’s existing 30,000+ betting shops and the RD$45 billion that is spent on gambling nationwide, describing it a tax on the poor.
Also speaking for the community, Mirtha Cabral stated that Hard Rock has opened hotels without casinos in 95% of their destinations, stressing that the negative social impact of casinos has been well documented. Negative impacts include an increase in criminal activities, social deviations such domestic violence, divorce, bankruptcy, drug and alcohol abuse, risky or illicit sexual behavior (especially prostitution), and problem gambling, loss of property value, and impoverishment. Cabral singled out the entertainment complex includes a large slot machine area, with state-of-the-art machines that are known to be highly addictive.
One woman made an emotional appeal to the community to be alert and reject the casino that she compared to the Spaniards who offered beads and mirrors to 'ignorant' Indians and took home all the gold they could find.
Read more:
http://www.diariolibre.com/medioambi...ores-DJ4586984
http://hoy.com.do/residentes-dn-sigu...tel-hard-rock/
http://almomento.net/bufete-tenzer-n...domingo/224549
http://www.travelpulse.com/news/hote...c-success.html
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/...asinos/375691/