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Hallwatch: better casino sites are possible
By Caryn Hunt
Sunday, 09/16/07
(1189989205656)
Hallwatch publisher Ed Goppelt told state legislators last Tuesday there was nothing particularly difficult or special about finding suitable alternative locations for the proposed Foxwoods and SugarHouse casinos.
Appearing before the House Gaming Oversight Committee, Goppelt asked legislators to protect neighborhoods from casinos by voting Rep. Babette's Josephs buffer bill out of committee. House Bill 1477 would prohibit a casino from being located within 1500 ft of a residence, church or school.
Passing HB1477, argued Goppelt, would give state Senator Vincent Fumo the stick he needs to bring residents, elected representatives and casino operators to the table to discuss casino relocation. Fumo, who represents casino neighbors, has described himself as the architect of legalized gambling in Pennsylvania.
Fumo told a group of neighborhood leaders on June 13, 2007 that he had a carrot, but no "stick" to compel the casino operators to discuss resiting. Fumo told the leaders he had offered Foxwoods Casino $30 million and free land to relocate, but that the Casino had turned him down flat.
The State’s goals for legalized gambling, as expressed through the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board’s mission statement, is to protect the citizens and earn money for the state. Hallwatch showed that the two sites chosen by casino operators do not meet either goal very well and there are better places to put a casino than in the middle of a residential neighborhood.
Goppelt described the method Hallwatch used to find other potential casino locations within Philadelphia that might better fulfill the goals of the state, reducing all suggested criteria to three essentials: proximity to population, highway access, and a minimum site size of 3.5 acres.
The Hallwatch analysis identified 459 properties that meet these criteria. By contrast, the Philadelphia City Planning Commission only found a handful a properties. Hallwatch identified three alternative locations that have minimal population living within 1500 ft. as well as good highway access:
The Naval Yard has no nearby residents; the Wheatsheaf property has 129 residents within 1500’. Compare this to the approximately 5000 people located within 1500’ of each of the SugarHouse and Foxwoods sites.
Goppelt urged the legislators to repeal a Gaming Act provision designed to protect casino profits but which makes it illegal to put a casino in many otherwise suitable sites. For example, the site at Bartram and Island Avenue by the airport.
The provision currently prohibits Philadelphia’s two casinos from being built within ten miles of Philadelphia Park in Bensalem and Harrah’s Chester.
Goppelt pointed out that if these exclusion zones were amended, the State and City would be able to pinpoint many more appropriate locations, sites away from neighborhoods and near existing highways. Representative Bill Keller, whose district includes the proposed Foxwoods site, pledged to help find appropriate locations outside of the Naval Yard, which is slated for industrial use, and work with the State to amend the exclusionary buffer.