License authorization; restrictions

§ 1321-a. License authorization; restrictions. 1. The commission is authorized to award up to three additional gaming facility licenses. The duration of such initial license and the term of renewal shall be determined by the commission; provided however, that such initial license term shall be no less than ten years but no more than thirty years based on the proposed total investment of the applicant's project.

2. If any of the three additional gaming facility licenses are awarded to an entity that was licensed for video lottery gaming pursuant to section sixteen hundred seventeen-a of the tax law as of January first two thousand twenty-two, a hold harmless provision shall apply. For the purposes of this section, video lottery gaming operations of an entity shall include any hosted video lottery devices.

3. Notwithstanding the foregoing, no casino gaming facility shall be authorized:

(a) in the counties of Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Hamilton, Jefferson, Lewis, Saint Lawrence and Warren;

(b) within the following area: (1) to the east, State Route 14 from Sodus Point to the Pennsylvania border with New York; (2) to the north, the border between New York and Canada; (3) to the south, the Pennsylvania border with New York; and (4) to the west, the border between New York and Canada and the border between Pennsylvania and New York; and

(c) in the counties of Cayuga, Chenango, Cortland, Herkimer, Lewis, Madison, Oneida, Onondaga, Oswego and Otsego.