It may very well be a fight of David v. Goliath proportions, but that isn’t stopping a coalition of Philadelphia neighborhood and civic groups from pounding the pavement in the state Capitol to stop the city’s two casinos from building on state-approved sites along the Delaware River.
The coalition, the Philly Neighborhood Alliance, was in Harrisburg today once again trying to prove that size doesn’t matter when it comes to getting your way in politics: they are determined to get legislation passed that would prohibit casinos from building within 1,500 feet of homes, schools, playgrounds, parks and places of worship.
If that bill was passed by both chambers and signed by Gov. Rendell – which many in Harrisburg believe is a highly unlikely scenario - that would mean that the two casinos approved for the Delaware River in Philadelphia would have to find new sites to operate.
Right now, the bill is stuck in a House committee awaiting a vote, but bill sponsor Rep. Babette Josephs (D., Phila.) announced today that the committee’s chair has agreed to bring the legislation to a vote – although she could not say precisely when. Sen. Vincent Fumo, D-Phila., introduced a similar bill at the behest of constituents, then immediately said it was a bad idea. Fumo hasn't moved much from that position, but given a primary election coming up in May, anything can happen.
But if there is one cliché that is true, it is this: hope springs eternal.
“What we’re saying is, cut your losses … and find a new site,” said Alliance member Rosanne Loesch. The Alliance is concerned about the impact of casinos going up in close proximity to residential areas, and has been pushing hard for them to find other sites in the city to operate. While both the Governor the casinos have said re-siting is not an option, City Council is successfully holding up the projects as we speak over what City Councilman Frank DiCicco says are real and unanswered questions about traffic. In addition, no one in the legislature has offered a bill to give SugarHouse or Foxwoods the state-owned riparian rights they would need to build a true waterfront project. (SugarHouse waterfront rendering shown above) Foxwoods says it can build a perfectly good casino without land rights along the river; SugarHouse officials have acknowledged that any casino they build without those rights will be nothing close to what city leaders wanted out of the project.
Does the bill stand a chance, despite the fact that it would render years worth of work by the legislation and the state Gaming Control Board on its head?
Josephs put it this way: “I don’t know what the roadmap will be, but I believe that in the end, they [Alliance] will prevail.”
--Angela Couloumbis and Jeff Shields
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