Planning Board Approves Gate City Casino Redevelopment at Sheridan with $5M‑plus Traffic Mitigation and Phase‑gated Approvals

After months of reviews and a night of extended testimony, the Nashua Planning Board on Aug. 6 approved a multi‑phase redevelopment that would relocate the Gate City Casino to the Sheridan property at 11 Terre Boulevard. The project is planned in two phases: phase 1 would add roughly 65,900 square feet of gaming floor and a parking garage, with targeted off‑site roadway reconstruction and mitigation measures focused on Tara Boulevard, Spitbrook Road and the Everett Turnpike ramps; phase 2 would add additional gaming floor area and parking capacity.

Applicant teams (attorney John Weaver; Ernie Delaverson, Gate City GM; traffic and civil engineers from Kimley‑Horn) described a mitigation program that staff and the city traffic peer reviewer (Beta Group) and the city’s senior traffic engineer, Wayne Husband, judged acceptable. Bill Scully of Kimley‑Horn said conceptual mitigation and simulation work produced a package of roadway widenings, added turn lanes and signal retiming the team estimates will cost in the range of $5 million. Staff built conditions requiring all phase‑1 mitigation items be in place prior to opening and established a post‑opening traffic and parking monitoring program; phase‑2 may not proceed unless monitoring confirms the measures are performing as projected. The board also recorded extensive public comment both opposing and supporting the project — neighbors cited traffic, noise and social impacts, while nonprofits and veterans groups described significant charitable funding tied to charitable gaming. The board voted to grant the conditional use permit, approve requested waivers and grant final site plan approval for phase 1; it also provided conditional approval for phase 2 subject to precedent conditions and staged monitoring.