I was seconds away from posting a summary of what WHYY's Susan Phillips told me about Nutter's earlier announcement on casinos when I got two emails in rapid succession about that very topic.
First is from the folks at PlanPhilly, who have been doing tremendous work covering the often confusing details of this situations. They provided a link to a breaking update by the Inquirer here. And a promise of more in depth coverage on their own site later this evening.
Then, the Nutter press office followed that with a release of their own, telling their side of the story. The full text of the release is available after the jump.
In the Inquirer coverage, they mention that:
A group of state lawmakers, as well as City Council, has petitioned the State Supreme Court to revoke the license itself, saying that only the state has the right to grant it.
Nutter said he believes that lawsuit is now moot because there is no license.
So, according to what I understood of my conversation with our reporter covering this, while these state legislators - Mike O'Brien and a representative of Vince Fumo - might be in agreement with Nutter that the casinos should find a better place, they don't agree with him that the lawsuit is moot. They continue to believe that the City does NOT have the right to grant riparian rights (aka license to build on submerged lands), and therefore, the lawsuit is not moot.
They told our reporters that only the state has the power to grant those riparian rights.
I've gone cross-eyed.
End result... looks like it may be a little while longer before you can go drop a few nickels in a one-armed bandit up in Fishtown. Yay? Boo?
In other casino news, brought to you by PlanPhilly (with video!), Councilman Frank Dicicco, wearing his Marian Tasco costume, introduced "legislation that would allow Foxwoods Casino to operate on its proposed riverfront site." Judging from the article, much consternation was had by many even thought Dicicco, now wearing his "written statement" costume, assured people that everything was going to be ok:
The proposed city legislation contains conditions that must be met in order for the zoning for the site to go into effect and "we set the bar really high," [Dicicco spokesman Brian] Abernathy said. "I don't think Foxwoods will like this legislation."
Mary Isaacson, spokeswoman for Rep. Mike O'Brien, who has also worked to move the casinos – agreed with Abernathy. She considered DiCicco's proposal a sort of Plan B to pending legislation and other efforts to relocate the casinos. "I think when (Foxwoods officials) see what is the starting point of what is required to even consider that site, they may think twice and move to another site that's more viable," she said.
So the many-headed hydra of casino gaming gets cut off in Fishtown, but seems to have sprouted anew down in South Philly. Or does it? This is all so damn confusing. If I were a casino operator, I'd be looking to build in Memphis by now.
Then again, I guess making it hard for business has always been something that the city has been good unintentionally good at. It makes sense that when they want to make it hard for businesses they don't like, they'd be reeeeally good at it.
(Click Continue Reading for text of Nutter release)
CITY REVOKES SUGARHOUSE LICENSE AND FILES BRIEF IN FOXWOODS LAWSUIT
Today Mayor Nutter announced that the Acting Commerce Director has revoked the riparian rights license issued by the previous Commerce Director on November 27, 2007 that allowed HSP Gaming (SugarHouse) to build on the Delaware River waterway. SugarHouse has 30 days to appeal to the Commerce Director for a hearing.
The Acting Commerce Director has rescinded that license as having been “issued in error.” The errors include:
The previous Commerce Director should have expressly considered whether a casino is an appropriate use of riparian rights, but failed to adequately do so.
In addition the project described in the City Planning Commission’s Plan of Development was not identical to the project described in the Gaming Control Board’s decision – this should have been clear and precise.
Revoking the license does not constitute a final decision on the matter. The Acting Commerce Director has invited SugarHouse to request a further hearing, so that a full and fair consideration of all appropriate issues can be conducted.
In addition, the City will file a motion with the Supreme Court arguing that previous appeals filed by state legislators and City Council challenging the Commerce Director’s issuance of the license, are moot because the license has been withdrawn.
“These important development issues should be resolved cooperatively between City government and the developers - not in the courts,” said Mayor Nutter.
Mayor Nutter also announced that tomorrow the City will file a brief opposing Philadelphia Entertainment and Development LP’s (Foxwoods) lawsuit before the Supreme Court. Foxwoods is asking the Supreme Court to compel the City to allow it to begin construction, even though Foxwoods does not yet have zoning permission from the City and City Council will actively consider the zoning issue as evidenced by the introduction of ordinances amending zoning designations for CEDs at today’s hearing.
Last summer the City Planning Commission gave Foxwoods conditional approval, but those conditions were not met until the end of the previous administration’s term.
City Council will now review those plans and determine whether critical concerns about traffic, neighborhood impacts and public safety have been met. “There simply was no time to do so under the previous administration,” said Mayor Nutter.
The City will ask the Supreme Court to respect this fair and reasonable process and to halt Foxwoods attempt to bypass input on a local level. Local elected officials can best address these profoundly local concerns.