Long Island Business News: Commentary: Government must help in casino fight

Make no mistake about why the Shinnecock Indian Nation went to court to secure what they believe is their rightful title to land that is now the Town of Southampton. It's all about money.

You can't blame the Shinnecocks for wanting the instant wealth that they have seen other tribes amass after building casinos on their lands. They can't help but envy the success of upstate casinos. They have talked for years about their economic needs, to the point that their frustration can no longer be contained.

Even when they took matters into their own hands and cleared a five-acre tract of trees and foliage to build their casino, it was stopped dead in its tracks by the courts. Having their application for Nation status languish at the Federal Bureau of Indian Affairs for 24 years, while other tribes got wealthy, has to be mind numbing.

The issues involve economics, land use, planning and regional impact, and are as complex as they are volatile. The Shinnecocks say their actions are necessary to stop over-development of the town, but the root cause of their lawsuit is to develop a casino on their land.

Ironically, the adverse impact from the very over-development that they criticize would result from their plan. The economic activity that a casino would generate would have very little multiplier benefit to the town. Look to Atlantic City, where casinos have brought very little benefit to the surrounding community.

For Suffolk County and the Town of Southampton, a Shinnecock casino would mean overtaxing an inadequate road system already choking from traffic.

The financial rewards of the casino for the Shinnecocks and their financial backers would not be shared by the town and county, which would have to pay for the municipal services required of the casino without receiving a comparable share of revenue to defray the costs of those services.

The Shinnecock say they want to be good neighbors, yet they are silent about their plans, which will dramatically alter the quality of the rural life that the East End is fighting to preserve through the County and Town Open Space Preservation Programs. The idyllic settings would be lost forever by the environmental impact of the casino.

What the Shinnecocks have asked for is an opportunity to improve the economic standards of their community. Yet, unlike the rest of Suffolk County, they are bound by rules and restrictions, some over 100 years old, which hinder that goal.

Since the problem seems to have originated with the New York State and federal governments, then the financial remedy lies with them. Just saying no will no longer do.