Court ruling gives it more say on slots
Friday, July 01, 2005
By Mark Belko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Empowered by the state Supreme Court, the city will move quickly to
craft zoning standards for a stand-alone slot machine casino that
most likely will be built near or in Downtown.
Mayor Tom Murphy said yesterday he hopes to have zoning in place for
the casino by October or November, well before the state Gaming
Control Board issues a license for the Pittsburgh casino, which
eventually could have up to 5,000 machines. The license probably
won't be issued until mid- to late 2006.
The city Planning Department expects to send proposed zoning code
changes to the planning commission by the end of this month and make
them available for public review through August.
Under the current schedule, the planning commission would hold public
hearings in September, before the zoning changes would move to City
Council for another public hearing and a final vote.
"It's going to be a lot of work," Planning Director Susan Golomb
said.
Murphy said some of his biggest concerns about the casino involve
traffic and design, both of which are issues that could be addressed
in the zoning.
"PNC Park is ranked as the best baseball park in America. The
convention center is ranked as one of the best buildings. We, I
think, paid attention to high-quality design in recent years. I think
we've gotten an increasing reputation for that and we would like to
continue that," he said.
Murphy told members of the Pittsburgh Gaming Task Force at their
meeting yesterday that their work takes on added importance because
some of their recommendations, particularly on matters like design
and traffic, could be incorporated into the zoning. The task force
was set up to study the impact of the casino.
The city and other municipalities got more say in regulating casinos
last week when the state Supreme Court struck down a provision in the
new gambling law that exempted the facilities from local zoning
control.
It is possible that the Legislature could try this fall to revise the
law to again limit local control. But for the time being, Murphy
said, "this gaming venue will be treated as any other use in the city
of Pittsburgh" and will be subject to zoning regulation.
Under the gambling law, Pittsburgh is in line to get one stand-alone
slots casino with up to 5,000 machines. Murphy said a facility that
big could occupy a space as large as the Point and that surface
parking could engulf a land mass the size of Gateway Center.
"It's startling to see just what the impact will be," added the task
force co-chairman, Ron Porter, referring to overlays developed by the
city to show just how much space a casino and accompanying parking
could take up.
Possible sites for the proposed casino include Uptown at Mellon
Arena, Station Square, the Strip District and the North Shore, where
there are three separate locations -- near the Del Monte plant,
between the two stadiums and near the West End Bridge.
The only site in the city currently zoned for a casino is the 635-
acre Pittsburgh Palisades Park development in Hays, proposed by
Beaver County developer Charles Betters. One of the issues before the
city -- and the task force -- is determining in which zoning
districts casinos should be permitted.
"We don't want casinos to eventually be allowed everywhere," Golomb
said.
Murphy urged task force members to develop a list of items they would
like to see as part of a casino development so it can be determined
which of them could be legally incorporated into zoning standards.
Besides the zoning-related public hearings, which will be handled by
the planning commission and City Council, the task force is expecting
to hold five public meetings of its own to solicit testimony
regarding the casino and its economic, social and community impacts.
XVP City in hurry to develop casino zoning
westwind281wagb wrote:
Court ruling gives it more say on slots
Friday, July 01, 2005
By Mark Belko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Empowered by the state Supreme Court, the city will move quickly to
craft zoning standards for a stand-alone slot machine casino that
most likely will be built near or in Downtown.
Because of the harsh Pennsylvania taxation on in-state casinos, it's
extraordinarily unlikely that we'll see vp paytables much better than
6/5 Jacks. (ok, maybe someone will slip up and give us 7/5)
I view the newly approved PA gambling as a non-event -- one that's
right up Harrah's alley, of course.
- Harry
Court ruling gives it more say on slots
Empowered by the state Supreme Court, the city will move quickly to
craft zoning standards for a stand-alone slot machine casino that
most likely will be built near or in Downtown.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05182/531477.stm
The Commonwealth is already talking about allowing table games in the
future, so there will probably be something to do in the casino sooner
or later, as far as what video poker pay tables will be , we'll just
have to wait and see. A member on this forum that lives out west,
Pittsburgh is his hometown and he visits once a year and is interested
in what is happening and when the casino is going to open, so it might
possibly be an event for some people but not everybody?