This week supporters of a proposed casino resort in Oxford County learned that their citizen initiative has qualified for the statewide ballot in November. At the same time, just about 20 miles away, investors in a casino facility in Lewiston got the green light for a city-wide vote in June on whether the site a former mill building should be re-developed to house the project, assuming that its approved by voters statewide next year. But the proximity of the two proposed casinos may raise problems for each.

This fall, voters will be asked to approve a casino in western Maine. The language of the question also makes clear that the developers, Blackbear Entertainment, would have exclusive rights to a casino and slot machines within a radius of a hundred miles. Blackbear spokesman Peter Martin says the language was borrowed from the maine statute governing Hollywood Slots in Bangor. if approved, it would mean that no other casino or racino could open up unless it was far enough away...or unless the law was later changed. Either way, Martin says he thinks the Lewiston project is dead on arrival.

"If we win or we lose, it's gonna shut the door on Lewiston.", Martin said.
"They're not gonna endorse another casino in Lewiston statewide a year later if we win, which I think we're going to. And if we lose, I believe the state is going to say: enough is enough...let's the close the door on casino expansion and let's take a break."

Stavros Mendros, one of the investors in the planned Lewiston project says he's not worried about the 100-mile radius provision. He's confident that issue would be resolved by referendum. Mendros says he believes there's even room for both casinos.

"We don't want a monopoly. We don't want all the action.", Stavros said.

"We're happy to share it. If Oxford pass, hey, that's great. We're more than happy to compete with them. If another part of the state wants one later, hey, we're more than happy to let 'em. We don't need to have the only one."

But Martin says without some sort of geographic exclusivity, investors will be wary.

"You have to afford these facilities some sort of protection, particularly if they're gonna come in and invest a hundred or 150 million dollars in the state. Not to allow them sort of protection would undermine investment and you would not be able to get investment to come into Maine."

Martin says other states do include geographic limits in their placement of casinos. But there's also another potential hurdle. The Oxford resort and casino proposal includes language that gives it exclusive rights to table games in the state such as blackjack, roulette and craps; the very kinds of games that Hollywood Slots wants to operate at its Bangor racino. A bill authorizing table games for Bangor is currently working its way through the Legislature. If the measure is rejected at the Statehouse, Dennis Bailey of the group CasinosNo! says Hollywood Slots and the city of Bangor are not going to be eager to see the Oxford casino prevail. And neither, he says, are Maine voters who rejected a similar proposal for the same region in 2008.

"People in the last Oxford County casino campaign - what people objected to was not gambling and not casinos, it was the little provisions they had put in the bill and one of them was monopoly provisions." Bailey says.

" I heard more comments about that than almost anything else and these were coming from people who had no problems with casinos, they just didn't agree with allowing monopolies. If you want to be a business you should compete like any other business."

Bailey says results of the 2008 casino referendum show that voters in Lewiston, Bangor and Washington County all soundly rejected that proposal. Southern Maine voters, Bailey says, have also been reluctant to approve casino projects in the past. He thinks the Oxford and Lewiston projects are both a long shot, especially if Penn National Gaming, Hollywood Slot's owner decides to campaign against either one. Hollywood Slots did not return telephone calls seeking comment for this story. For his part, Martin says Black Bear Entertainment supports Hollywood Slot's efforts to get table games and believes the state can support two casinos, but not three.