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27,000 Philadelphians oppose casinos in the neighborhoods
By Ed Goppelt
Monday, 02/19/07
(1171900833527)
Representatives of Casino-Free Philadelphia announced at a mid-morning press conference last Wednesday that they had enough signatures to require City Council to vote on a ballot question designed to keep Las Vegas size casinos out of residential neighborhoods and to do so on terms that favor residents.
In late January, over 300 riverfront residents and longshoremen fanned out across the City asking their fellow Philadelphians to support a ballot question that would put a buffer zone between residential neighborhoods and casinos. Led by Casino-Free Philadelphia, in just 20 days the volunteers got 27,000 registered voters to sign a petition to change the City's Home Rule Charter.
If approved by Philadelphia voters on the May ballot, the measure would change the City Charter to prohibit casinos anywhere within 1,500 feet of a residentially zoned area, an exclusion zone equivalent to a circle with a diameter of 7 city blocks.
Under the City Charter, citizens don't have the right to propose referendums. Normally, it is up to Council to propose ballot questions and 12 City Councilmembers must vote to approve. However, Casino-Free Philadelphia took advantage of an obscure provision of the City Charter that puts citizens in the drivers seat.
Mt. Airy resident and City Council at Large candidate Marc Stier came up with idea out of sheer frustation with City Council's unwillingness to protect residents from the Las Vegas size casinos planned for their neighborhoods. In October, Stier and other residents successfully lobbied the State Legislature to leave the City's zoning power over casinos intact. Stier told Hallwatch "we were really frustrated having won that fight that no one on Council was willing to use that zoning control. How do we use it when City Council didn't seem to be moving?"
Stier, a former professor of political sciences from Temple, recalled that if citizens could collect the signatures of 20,000 registered voters, the City Charter:
Daniel Hunter of Casino-Free Philadelphia told the assembled reporters that "the state's allowed to say there should be casinos. But the state isn't able to trump city zoning law." The press conference Wednesday was attended by reporters from the two daily newspapers, KYW-Newsradio, Metronetworks and Channel Six ActionNews.
According to Casino-Free Philadelphia member Jethro Heiko, a representative from the law offices of Sprague and Sprague took photographs and recorded the press conference as well. Richard Sprague is a part-owner of the SugarHouse casino and is currently defending his friend, state Sen. Vince Fumo, against a 139 count federal indictment.
Hunter, Heiko, Anne Dicker, Ken Gregory, Shirley Cook, Huu Ngo and others from Casino-Free Philadelphia then proceeded to deliver the petitions to the Chief Clerk of City Council, the office responsible for managing City Council's paperwork. If the Clerk finds the petition in order, the casinos may challenge the validity of the signatures by submitting a counter petition. Then Council will vote on the measure, and if passed and signed by the Mayor, the ballot question will appear on this spring's primary ballot in early May.
On December 20, 2006 the state Gaming Board awarded licenses to two would-be Philadelphia casinos, both of them located right next to residential neighborhoods. The SugarHouse casino in Fishtown is less than 200 feet from the nearest residences on Allen St. while Foxwoods in South Philadelphia is 600 feet from the residences on Front St.