Salem Planning Board hears casino site plan despite lack of landowner permission
By Ryan Lessard Union Leader Correspondent Apr 15, 2021 Updated 10 hrs ago
The Salem Planning Board voted Tuesday to accept a site plan for a casino in a former Kmart store even though the building owner objects to the plan.
Kymalimi LLC, owner of Chasers Poker Room and Casino, wants to install an 800-game casino in an 84,000-square-foot former Kmart.
The property owner, DSM Realty, a division of Demoulas Supermarkets, said it doesn’t grant permission and the lease agreement does not give the tenants a right to apply for change of use permits.
Chasers contends it has permission to apply for a change of use permit under the terms of the lease with the leaseholder, Transform Operating Stores LLC, which acquired former Kmart assets.
A legal opinion by town counsel, summarized in a memo sent by Town Planner Ross Moldoff Monday, advised the Planning Board not to accept the site plan as long as landowners refuse to give their permission.
Board Chair Keith Belair said he saw no problem hearing the proposal and letting the lawyers figure out the details of what is permitted, since there are varying interpretations of the regulation requiring landowner permission.
Selectman Michael Lyons objected to moving forward with a hearing, saying he is concerned about opening the town up to litigation, especially since the town is already being sued by a former casino owner who alleges the town made special permitting exceptions advantageous to Chasers ahead of its opening in 2017.
The board voted to accept the plan 5-2, with Lyons and board member Joseph Feole voting against.
Engineer George Fredette said Chasers isn’t proposing any changes to the site, only an interior remodeling and exterior facade signage.
Fredette estimated the proposed facility, with 800 gaming stations, will only require about 420 parking spaces, which already exist. Fredette said the existing Chasers at 7 Memorial Parkway has 186 gaming stations and 114 parking spaces.
“Generally, this site is about four times larger in both regards,” Fredette said.
The building is about 10 times as large as the existing casino.
During public comment, Carmine Tomas, an attorney representing the landowners, said they expect the potential parking situation to be significantly worse than projected, estimating a need of closer to 1,500 parking spaces.
Tomas said the lack of landowner permission impacts how the board is able to review the site plan and require reasonable mitigation, especially if that means changes to the parking, driveways, landscaping or any other part of the outside.
“The tenant that we have here, Transformco … controls the building. This is a lease for the building. The space in the building. This does not relate to a lease of land and ground and the area outside,” Tomas said.
Moldoff said Wednesday he’s not aware of this sort of thing ever happening before.
“I don’t believe the planning board has ever reviewed or accepted a plan where I had told them that it wasn’t complete … and where the property owner has said ‘No I do not give permission for this to go forward,’” Moldoff said.
At one point, during Fredette’s presentation, Lyons initiated a vote to rescind the acceptance of the site plan, which Feole seconded. The rest of the board voted against the motion and they proceeded with the hearing.
Board member Jeff Hatch said that after reviewing the site plan, he would need to see either landowner permission or a New Hampshire court ruling saying landowner permission is not required in this case in order to give this project his approval.
The board voted to continue the hearing. Another hearing on April 27 will review the traffic study submitted by Chasers and an independent review of the study.
ldnews@unionleader.com