Philadelphia Casinos Not a Done Deal

With several ordinances in front of the Philadelphia City Council, some of which stand a real chance of getting passed, those casinos that have been given slot machine licenses for Philly may not have known what they were getting into. Anti-gambling groups have several bills that they want passed that would either greatly limit where the casinos could set up shop, or they could be banned from the city altogether.

The City Council has hired a lawyer to help them with all of this mess, and they are considering appealing the Gaming Control Board’s slot machine license decision. The deadline is next week. However, the State Supreme Court has just ruled that the anti-casino groups may not have a leg to stand on because they didn’t “officially intervene” during the slot machine licensing process. However, the council still has the right to rule as they want when it comes to allowing the slot machine casinos to go wherever they want.

Many say that they might not want to use that power though, as it will end up costing them more money in the long run, and they will still end up with slot machine casinos in their town. They say that it will only delay the inevitable, and it will cost the city money in legal fees, as well as losing any control they now have over the casino sites.

Initially, the 2004 state law that originally legalized the 61,000 slot machines in the state, did not allow for city planning and zoning rights. However, that was tossed a year later by the State Supreme Court. Then, the legislature tried to put it back in saying that the casinos could be held up by Philadelphia politics – but neighborhood groups got together and put pressure on the state and the state caved.




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