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Residents and officials challenge casino land grab
By Caryn Hunt
Friday, 11/16/07
(1195190961562)
A contentious three-hour hearing over the fate of land needed by
SugarHouse Casino to build its slots parlor pitted Philadelphia
residents and state and city legislators against officials working for
Mayor John Street.
In a dramatic beginning to the hearing, police removed three
residents from the building for refusing to sit down and shut up.
Members of Casino Free Philadelphia had been attempting to conduct a "citizen's filibuster". Residents opposed to casinos stood and interrupted Commerce Director Stephanie Naidoff's introductory remarks. Jethro Heiko, Huu Ngo and Andrea Preis demanded that their testimony be given the same respect shown for that of SugarHouse executives and elected officials, instead of being time-limited and taken at the end of the hearing.
Members of the roofers union who packed the hall shouted the residents down. Hallwatch overheard a SugarHouse publicist boast that casino opponents were outnumbered 5-1 by supporters of the proposed casino.
At issue was whether the City Commerce Dept. should give SugarHouse permission to build its casino on state-owned riverfront land. Citing a hundred year old law, SugarHouse filed an application two weeks ago with the city's Department of Commerce for a license to build on submerged, or riparian, lands owned by the State.
Normally such a license can only be granted by an act of legislature and traditionally a bill for such property transfer is introduced by the Representative in whose district the project falls.
State Sen. Vince Fumo and State Representative Mike O'Brien argued that the two 1907 laws cited by SugarHouse do not grant the city's Commerce Department the authority to grant a license to build on riparian lands. According to Fumo, the Pennsylvania Dam Safety and Encroachments Act in 1978 specifically repealed the city's ability to grant such rights.
"Let us not go down this path for the benefit of one developer and to the detriment of the city," said Fumo, warning of the dangerous precedent that could be set by challenging the authority of the General Assembly in the granting of riparian lands.
Members of Roofer's Local Union 30 heckled Fumo, calling him a crook. Not one to walk away from a fight, Fumo responded in kind, referring to the roofers as "animals" and questioning their intelligence. A roofer told Hallwatch that he was being paid double time by his union to attend the hearing, but a source close to the union denied that any members were being paid, and that most present were unemployed and attending on their own time. Not all union members are Philadelphia residents, nor even Pennsylvania residents.
Of Title 18 of the City Code, to which SugarHouse refers in its application, Representative O'Brien stated, "The title of the code is "Port Operations". It has nothing to do with licensing for private commercial development. It's taking a giant leap of imagination to believe that a casino, whose fast lands are held in private title and whose operations will not be able to be regulated by the city, could possibly fit into the requirements necessary to allow for the license issuance for a private development that has nothing to do with "Port Operations"."
Additionally, according to the statute, said O'Brien, "construction must commence within 6 months of the granting of a license. It is impossible for this applicant to do so."
"At the present time they are not able to comply with the requirements of the Department of Environmental Protection to obtain their proper permits on the state level nor the city level for their water sewer 537 planning module requirements. They also do not have proper zoning for the proposed project. Thus they cannot meet this requirement under 53 P.S. 14200."
City Councilman Frank DiCicco, within whose district SugarHouse lies, asserted a similar position. "From my understanding, the legal authority of the City is questionable, at best, in this matter," said DiCicco.
"I have no doubt that whatever decision is made, the decision will be appealed. That means another court battle. That means thousands of dollars more in attorney fees. That means wasted time and wasted money. And why? Because a private entity isn't getting what it wants."
DiCicco expressed his frustration with Mayor Street's administration and it's support of this application by SugarHouse.
"Rather than stand up to the bully, this City's Administration would rather roll over than make sure this project is done right," DiCicco said. He cited a litany of concerns including questions about increasing law enforcement close to the casinos, about traffic mitigation, specifically PennDOT's plans for I-95 in light of the fact that the planned Girard Interchange SugarHouse traffic will depend on, will not be completed until 2016 and during construction will periodically be closed, and the lack of economic impact studies to analyze the costs to the city associated with casinos.
City officials touted the benefits of casinos to the city, ignoring residents' opposition to the projects as well as the potential negative financial impacts to the city outlined in the latest report from the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority, a watchdog agency charged to provide fiscal oversight for Philadelphia. The SugarHouse project was repeatedly linked to the expansion of the convention center, although funding has already been earmarked for the project and demolition has begun.
SugarHouse architect Ian Cope argued that the license was necessary to the project as submerged lands represent over 52% of the project's total lot area. This assertion begged the question of whether SugarHouse misrepresented whether they had site control in their application to the Pennsylvania State Gaming Control Board.
In later testimony, Philadelphia resident and attorney Paul Boni asserted his belief SugarHouse needs much more than the 11 acres requested in their Commerce Department application, judging by where the "low water mark" used to determine submerged land lies. In his estimation, closer to 90% of the SugarHouse site could be considered riparian, though much of it appears solid rather than submerged.
The hearing coincided with the 6 month anniversary of the Philly Ballot Box, a shadow election organized by Casino Free Philadelphia for the May election after the referendum allowing citizens a vote on the casino issue was struck from the ballot by the State Supreme Court. Approximately 13,000 Philadelphia voters participated in the straw vote.
Members of the public can use Hallwatch to submit their comments to Commerce Director Naidoff for inclusion in the official record. The deadline for additional comments and information is 4 pm Friday, November 16, 2007.