Planning officials have approved a developer's proposal
for the city's second casino, leaving it to City Council members to address
concerns about the South Philadelphia project's size and use of outdoor signs.
The city Planning Commission voted Tuesday to approve
Stadium Casino L.L.C.'s master plan for the Live! Hotel & Casino
Philadelphia project, contingent on future Council action that would tweak the
proposed location's zoning to allow the development in its current form.
Stadium Casino - a partnership of Cordish Cos. of
Baltimore, whose properties include Xfinity Live!, and Greenwood Racing Inc.,
owner of Parx Casino in Bensalem - proposes a $500 million development at 900
Packer Ave. in Philadelphia's stadium district.
Plans call for a 19-story hotel tower attached to a
seven-story parking structure, with gaming, dining, and entertainment on the
complex's ground floor. The parking structure also would feature a landscaped
"green" roof.
Planning Commission members said during the proposal's
first public hearing in August that the design had too much digital signage to
meet zoning requirements. The developer responded by removing two large digital
signs from the proposal.
But even with that change, the design would still not be
permitted under the "special purpose entertainment," or SP-ENT,
zoning classification that the developer will request for the site from City
Council, Martin Gregorski, director of the Planning Commission's development
division, said at Tuesday's hearing.
The project also lacks necessary open areas and has too
much floor space, Gregorski said.
It will be up to Council to relax the requirements of the
SP-ENT classification while considering the rezoning request, he said.
Cordish has said the casino development is expected to
take 15 months to complete after it secures final approvals and permits.
The developer has begun seeking those approvals despite a
legal challenge by rival groups to the gaming license Stadium Casino was
granted in November.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court is reviewing briefs in an
appeal by the rivals, which allege that Stadium Casino's interest in Parx
Casino should have disqualified it from getting another license.
Deputy Mayor Alan Greenberger said a decision on the
appeal could come as early as this fall.
Live! would be Philadelphia's second gambling venue.
SugarHouse Casino opened on the Delaware riverfront in Fishtown in 2010.
The only members of the public to offer testimony at
Tuesday's hearing were local representatives of the National Action Network
civil-rights group, which urged commission members to investigate allegations
of racist practices by Cordish at sites in Kansas City, Mo., and Lexington, Ky.
Greenberger said the Planning Commission does not have
the authority or expertise to vet those claims and said they could be examined
by the City Council.
Live! project lawyer Richard W. Hayden said the state
Gaming Control Board thoroughly vetted Cordish when its license was granted and
found no sign of discriminatory practices.
Source: Philly.com
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