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Sen. Fumo introduced two buffer bills on July 13, 2007, one for SugarHouse, the other applying only to Foxwoods. Please let Sen. Fumo know how you feel TODAY about legislation that may leave a substantial swath of the City unprotected against casinos. Ask Sen. Fumo to release his maps showing what portions of the City his bills will protect and not protect.
Using computer mapping software (Microsoft Streets and Trips and Arcmap) I found that most of Northern Liberties, Old City, East Falls, Manayunk and Roxborough are unprotected by Fumo's legislation. This would make these communities an attractive target for any casino that is forced to resite because of Fumo's legislation.
View maps that show which neighborhoods will be protected by Fumo's legislation (indicated on maps as green area).
Fumo says his bills taken together protect the entire city, but common sense and simple geometry says this is impossible. If you want to have a leak proof floor in your bathroom, you better not use circular tiles.
“In retrospect, perhaps I should not have made a blanket promise to introduce the 1,500-foot buffer zone for the entire city. But I made the commitment and am honoring it now,” a press release quotes Fumo as saying.
Each bill is supposed to cause one and only one casino to move (SB 1031 for Foxwoods, SB 1032 for SugarHouse). The bills accomplish this end by each defining a protective circle in which the 1500' buffer applies around the two local racinos, one based on Harrah's Chester Casino (SB 1031, radius 12.5 miles), the other on Philadelphia Park (SB 1032, radius 14 miles). The circles appear drawn to just barely include Foxwoods and SugarHouse.
I have asked Sen. Fumo's office several times to comment on the accuracy of my maps or alternatively release their own maps so people can see what neighborhoods are protected by his legislation and which are not. See most recently my open letter of July 24, 2007 to Sen. Fumo.
To date, only Gary Tuma, Sen. Fumo's press aide, has responded and that was to decline to comment on the accuracy of my maps. "We cannot comment on the accuracy of your Internet based mapping program, nor do we have any assurance [that] your mapping program has measured the distance from the most extreme edge of the Category 1 properties to derive the radius circles you have presented," wrote Tuma.
Ed Goppelt, Faxbank Manager
webmaster @ hallwatch.org
Sen. Fumo needs to hear from you NOW.
A majority of Philadelphians support this simple solution to the casino problem: keep Las Vegas size casinos at least 1500 ft. (3 1/2 blocks) from residential neighborhoods, the places where families live, worship, play and learn.
Sen. Fumo promised neighborhood leaders in mid-June that he would introduce a buffer bill to do just that.
Cut and paste this text into your message:
Dear Sen. Fumo:
I want my neighborhood protected from a casino by a buffer of at least 1500 ft. All neighborhoods
deserve equal protection from casinos. Please show me the maps that you used when drafting your buffer bills
so I can see for myself whether my neighborhood is protected or not.
Click here when you are ready to write your letter.
There is substantial evidence that most Philadelphian support a buffer bill. In a March poll, the Global Strategies Group found that 79% of City voters support establishing a 1500' protective buffer around residential communities inside of which casinos would be prohibited from locating. In phillyballotbox.org's shadow election, 95% or 12,592 Philadelphians voted in favor of this common sense restriction.
Please give Sen. Fumo the information he needs to make the right decision on this important issue. Let him know how you feel.
Ed Goppelt, Faxbank Manager
webmaster@hallwatch.org
