Philadelphia Casino Site Draws Lawsuit From Neighborhood Civic Groups

A Foxwoods casino on the Delaware River and the SugarHouse casino a few miles up the river were overjoyed when they received the necessary licenses from the Philadelphia Gaming Control Board, now the two groups are facing opposition.

Civic groups in the neighborhoods of Pennsport, Society Hill, Old City, and Northern Liberties, and some individual residents have filed a Federal lawsuit.

In the lawsuit the groups claim that by allowing the casino it will bring added crime to the area, along with pollution and congestion.

The other area of the lawsuit is one of interest, the groups claim that former commission chairman Tad Decker should have taken himself out of the decision making process since he had ties to Cozen O'Connor, the law firm that represents Sugarhouses developer.

Decker has returned to the firm as their president and chief operating officer after leaving for three years to be the gaming board chairman.

The groups have already tried to disrupt the expansion of the two casinos by challenging the licenses in state court, but that attempt failed and they have now moved on to their Federal lawsuit.



2007-11-05