Ritvo acknowledges community concerns about Massachusetts racetrack proposal

Local residents at a public town-council meeting Monday night in Lancaster, Mass., expressed legitimate concerns about a proposal to build a racetrack there, according to Tim Ritvo, chief operating officer for The Stronach Group, which is behind the proposal.

The plan, still in an embryonic stage, calls for building a racetrack on a 100-acre parcel of land north of the community of 8,000, located 45 miles west of downtown Boston. Ritvo, who attended the meeting, said the community’s concerns could be addressed as the proposal evolves.

“There were concerns from the local community about the impact, the traffic impact and environmental impact, the things you would expect,” said Ritvo. “Hopefully we sent the message to them that we are willing to work with them.”

A report in a local newspaper said that “the majority of local residents who spoke at the meeting were opposed” to the plan, though the report also said that several farm owners and horse breeders spoke in favor of the proposal.

“I don’t see that you have an economically viable plan to make this work,” said a Lancaster resident, Jim Carlson, according to the local Sentinel & Enterprise. “What I see is a lot of pie in the sky.”

The proposal to build the racetrack became public two weeks ago when a buyer who plans to purchase the parcel of land mentioned The Stronach Group’s involvement to a town council member. The town council then scheduled the meeting for Monday night to allow the community to participate in an “information-gathering meeting,” according to the town’s administrator, Orlando Pacheco.

Last week, The Stronach Group filed rudimentary site plans and a document answering 18 questions posed by the town council. The plan calls for a small racetrack on 100 acres of the 350-acre parcel of land, and the company said it anticipated running approximately 30 live racing dates.

Ritvo said on Tuesday morning that the earliest live racing could be held at the track would be 2020. He also said that the track would be only one part of a large development at the site, which could also include retail and residential units.

“We’re just one part of a bigger project,” Ritvo said.

This is the second time in as many years that The Stronach Group has acknowledged pursuing a racing project in Massachusetts, where live racing has not been conducted for anything more than a few weekends since 2014, when Suffolk Downs was passed over for a casino license that the track’s owners said was critical to maintaining a live-racing season of any substance. Last year, Ritvo met with the Massachusetts owners of a fair site and greyhound track about converting either of the facilities to a horseracing track, but the talks fizzled.

The owner of Suffolk Downs, together with the New England Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association and the Massachusetts Horse Breeders, have announced a plan to renovate the shuttered Great Barrington fair site in the far western edge of the state for live racing. That plan hinges on favorable legislation, as does the plan put forward by The Stronach Group, meaning the two operators will be competing for the legislature’s attention.

Ritvo reiterated that he did not expect unanimous support from the Lancaster community in the initial stages of the planning for the project, but he said The Stronach Group would work diligently with the town as the proposal moves forward.

“This is just one step in a long-term process,” Ritvo said.