What is a Surrounding Community Agreement?
A Surrounding Community is a municipality in proximity to a host community that the Commission determines experiences or is likely to experience impacts from the development or operation of a gaming establishment. Under the Gaming Act, gaming applicants are required to submit “signed agreements between the surrounding communities and the applicant setting forth the conditions to have a gaming establishment located in proximity to the surrounding communities and documentation of public outreach to those surrounding communities.” The Commission recently promulgated a regulation further defining the term “surrounding community” for gaming applications and other purposes. In this regulation, the Commission further defines the factors it will use in determining which communities are “surrounding communities”, if such communities have not already been designated as surrounding communities in an applicant’s RFA-2 application. Applicants for gaming licenses have the primary responsibility for determining whether a community is a “surrounding community” to be included in its application. However, the Gaming Act establishes a procedure for the Commission to decide whether a community is a “surrounding community” even though the applicant has not included an agreement with that community in its RFA-2 application to the MGC. In the event an applicant has not been able to reach an agreement with a surrounding community prior to the RFA-2 application, the Gaming Act specifies that gaming applicants and surrounding communities will have thirty days to negotiate an agreement before the Commission implements protocols and procedures to ensure the conclusion of a fair and reasonable agreement.
The definition can be found in section 205 CMR 125.00: Surrounding Communities. View MGC regulations.
To view surrounding community agreements and related agreements due to a negative license decision, negative referendum outcome, or applicant withdrawal, visit our Archived Surrounding Community Agreements and Related Agreements page.
Encore Boston Harbor
Surrounding Community / Neighboring Agreements
- City of Boston Surrounding Community Agreement
- City of Cambridge Surrounding Community Agreement
- City of Lynn Neighboring Community Agreement
- City of Malden Surrounding Community Agreement
- City of Medford Surrounding Community Agreement
- Town of Melrose Neighboring Community Agreement
- City of Somerville Surrounding Community Agreement
Arbiter’s Reports and Awards
Other Agreements
MGM Springfield
Surrounding Community Agreements
- Town of Agawam Surrounding Community Agreement
- City of Chicopee Surrounding Community Agreement
- Town of East Longmeadow Surrounding Community Agreement | 1st Amendment
- City of Holyoke Surrounding Community Agreement | 1st Amendment
- Town of Longmeadow Surrounding Community Agreement
- Town of Ludlow Surrounding Community Agreement
- Town of Wilbraham Surrounding Community Agreement and 1st Amendment
- Town of West Springfield Surrounding Community Agreement