The zoning changes would have accommodated an indoor-outdoor entertainment facility and multifamily dwellings and would have increased allowable building heights to as much as 300 feet. The zoning changes did not explicitly mention casinos.
Planning Board members said they wanted to delay action because it is clear now that the zoning changes could help pave the way for a casino. They said the Kraft-Wynn team should return with their proposal after the first of the year.
“We have and will continue to have a relationship with the Krafts, but not everything that comes down the pike is appropriate,’’ said Kevin Weinfeld, chairman of the Planning Board. “If we are going to consider it, we will need a very specific proposal and zoning that addresses it.’’
The Planning Board meeting was an opening skirmish in what could be a long battle between vigorous casino opponents and the Kraft Group, which owns the stadium and the land around it. The Kraft Group did not speak at the meeting last night and appeared to downplay the significance of the board’s decision afterward.
“We didn’t have anything on the agenda for tonight’s meeting and therefore didn’t attend, so I don’t have enough information to comment at this time,’’ Stacey James, spokesman for The Kraft Group, said late last night.
Residents from the neighboring communities of Walpole and Norfolk joined casino opponents from Foxborough to urge the board to reject the zoning changes.
“Can we make this a dry town as far as gambling goes?’’ said Alan Sweeney, a Foxborough resident.
Walpole town administrator Mike Boynton added: “The town of Walpole urges you and pleads with you to look at the real consideration of human lives of the folks who live on the border of Foxborough.’’
Kraft and Wynn announced late last week that they were working on a deal allowing Kraft to lease Wynn property so he could bid on a $1 billion casino proposal authorized under the state’s new expanded gambling law.
