Some protestors at a rally in the West Warwick neighborhood that would be home to the casino say they've spoken with East Greenwich officials about seceding to that community.

08:16 AM EDT on Wednesday, June 23, 2004

BY ZACHARY R. MIDER
Journal Staff Writer

WEST WARWICK -- About 100 of the proposed Narragansett Indian casino's would-be neighbors rallied in opposition to the plan yesterday, warning that the casino would clog their streets, harm their children and destroy their neighborhood.

Standing behind an inflatable shark meant to represent the casino's financial backer, Las Vegas-based Harrah's Entertainment, speakers railed against the proposal while neighborhood children carried signs asking passing drivers to "Honk Against the Casino."

"In Rhode Island, the only good casino is a clam casino," read another sign.

"We will not go down without a fight," said Timothy Henry, a resident who helped organize the drive. He asked the crowd to urge lawmakers to defeat the proposal at the State House -- especially a handful of undecided state senators.

Resident Frank Lombardo warned that the casino's main enticement for West Warwick residents -- a reduction in property taxes -- might turn out to be illusory, if the town loses a dollar in state educational aid for every dollar it collects from gambling. "It is not tax relief," he said. "It is a smoke screen."

The group gathered on the spacious front lawn of Thomas Bottone's East Greenwich Avenue home. Bottone said a hay field just yards from his two-story Cape could be replaced by casino development; he said the land is under option by Harrah's.

The neighborhood consists mostly of condominiums and single-family houses, with fewer apartment buildings than the rest of the town.

"I don't want our property values going down," said Karen Craig, of Silverwood Drive. "I want to know where the [Narragansetts'] chief sachem lives. Let him move here."

She and many of her neighbors plan to move away if the casino is built, she said, which would be a blow to the children who have grown up together in the neighborhood and attended Greenbush Elementary School.

John Thorp, of Lancer Lane, said that the casino would encourage underage drinking among those who are old enough to gamble but too young to drink. With free drinks being passed around to gamblers, he said, "you're going to have a bunch of drunken 18-year-olds."

Even if Harrah's builds an exit off Route 95 to serve the casino, there will still be massive traffic delays while the exit is under construction, Thorp said.

State law requires a casino to win the approval of a majority of voters statewide, and a majority in its host community. Although the neighborhood -- Ward 5 -- voted against it in a straw poll in 1999, the town as a whole was heavily in favor.

Henry said he has approached members of the East Greenwich Town Council, which opposes the casino, about the neighborhood seceding from West Warwick and joining that neighboring community. "They're willing to listen to what we have to say," he said.

"I think we're open to it," said Arthur C. Barton III, the East Greenwich council president, who also attended the rally.

He said council members had not examined the fiscal impact of annexing part of West Warwick. But given the huge impact he expects the casino to have on the region, he said, it might be worth it.