BIDDEFORD — A public hearing was planned this morning at the Statehouse in Augusta regarding a bill that, if passed, would allow the proposed $125 million Biddeford Downs Racino to move forward, depending on regulatory approvals and positive negotiations with the City of Biddeford.

However, a new group formed two weeks ago wants the issue to be decided at a statewide referendum, as was the case in 2003 prior to building Hollywood Slots racino in Bangor, and in 2010 when Maine voters approved the yet-to-be-built Oxford casino project.

Mainers Against a Rotten Deal is gearing up to defeat LD 1203, which would allow slot machine/harness racing facilities in Biddeford and Washington County; and LD 985 to allow a casino in Lewiston.

The communities where these proposed facilities would be located have all approved the projects, but changes to state statute are needed.

Those changes should go to a statewide referendum, said Chris O’Neil, spokesman of Mainers Against a Rotten Deal.

Residents of the communities where the gambling facilities will be located aren’t the only ones who will be affected by locating a racino or casino in their midst, he said. Residents of neighboring communities will also feel the effects and should have a voice, which they would in a statewide referendum, said O’Neil.

Jobs and revenue to host communities have been the main arguments in favor of more gambling sites in Maine, but opponents feel otherwise.

“I don’t think you’re going to revitalize an economy with a casino,” said Marc Worrell, president of the new anti-casino group and former Republican legislative candidate in Biddeford.

He said his organization favored jobs like firefighters and teachers, not minimum wage positions. He also questions how many gambling sites the state could sustain.

If the proposed projects all go through, the number of gaming facilities will increase from two to five.

Worrell said a study is necessary to determine the ramifications of more gambling facilities in the state.

If the group is successful in forcing citizen referendums on the proposed gaming projects, he said, members will continue the fight until the November election.

Worrell said his group plans to contact those who were involved in fighting the Biddeford racino prior to the local referendum in November 2010.

David Flood, a downtown property owner, was one of those who actively fought against passage of the local referendum to allow a racino in Biddeford.

Although he’s not a member of Mainers Against a Rotten Deal, Flood said he supports what they’re trying to do.

He disagrees with several downtown Biddeford business owners who said they support putting a racino in their city because they believe it will help their businesses and the local economy. Developers have promised 800 construction jobs and 500 permanent jobs with the project.

The jobs that will arrive with the racino will improve businesses in the downtown because the newly employed will be able to afford to spend money there, said Downtown Development Commission Chairman Brian Keely, whose family owns the Wonderbar Restaurant located off Main Street.

Flood advocated for an independent study of the long-term effects of a racino in the community.

He said his relatives live in Dover, Del. where a casino is located.

Though Dover has an attractive downtown, said Flood, “it is completely dead,” and development and business takes place near the casino there, not in the city center. The proposed location for the Biddeford Downs Racino is in a largely undeveloped area on the outskirts of the city’s border with Arundel.

“I think it (the racino) will greatly hurt the small, local businesses,” he said.

Efforts by city officials to push through the racino are taking away efforts that could be served by focusing on the downtown, said Flood.

“If it happens,” he said. “I think there will be fantastic pressures to develop that area and (it will be) that much harder to develop the downtown.”

Biddeford City Manager John Bubier disagrees.

The racino would help the downtown because $2 million dollars annually will be funneled there as a result of the development to be used for infrastructure improvements, he said.

Backers of the Oxford County casino are also adding their voices to those who want the Biddeford, Washington County and Lewiston projects to go to a statewide vote.

They say the argument by racino developers that LD 1203 only addresses minor issues in state statute is faulty. The new legislation is too different from the 2003 vote that allowed for two racinos since it did not envision a third in Washington County that would be allowed if LD 1203 passed, according to Oxford Resort Casino lobbyist Peter Martin.

This morning’s public hearing takes place before the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee.

That committee will vote on the issue before it goes before the full legislature for a vote. If it fails, it will go to a statewide referendum vote in November.

— Staff Writer Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 324 or dmendros@journaltribune.com.