Casino Connection Atlantic City

More Roadblocks For Philly Casinos

by Casino Connection Staff

With a new mayor, Michael Nutter, and a nine-person planning commission that includes eight new members, city government in Philadelphia seems to be growing more and more skeptical about casino development along the Delaware River.

Though City Council’s rules committee is actively considering a commercial entertainment district for the upcoming Foxwoods casino, Councilman W. Wilson Goode Jr. conceded that Nutter’s approach is “a radical change on how we commit to doing development.”

Council members have voiced concerns about the project’s impact on traffic in the area and the operations of the port. Foxwoods General Manager James L. Dougherty says the company is willing to invest $7 million for traffic improvements, wider walkways and extra turning lanes, leaving “no reasonable justification for further delays” of the project.

Last year City Council tried to delay construction or even move the $560 million slots parlor, forcing Foxwoods to seek a zoning change. City Councilman Frank DiCicco last month offered a bill to provide Foxwoods its zoning only if it met a list of stringent conditions regarding impact to traffic, the environment and local economy.

The state Supreme Court ruled last fall that the city was obstructive in holding up Philadelphia’s other planned slots project, SugarHouse Casino. Last month, Nutter revoked SugarHouse’s license to evaluate if a 5,500-machine slot parlor is the best use of the Fishtown-Northern Liberties property. He told SugarHouse to reapply so the city could conduct a new study of a casino’s effect on waterfront infrastructure, roadways, storm water and traffic.

In a statement, SugarHouse responded that it expects the city, “regardless of a change in administration, to honor all of its contractual obligations.”