Thanks to all out organizing and pressure from the Philadelphia Neigborhood Alliance and Casino Free Philadelphia, it looks like two Sugarhouse and Foxwoods will be forced to move. Gov. Rendell has now joined Vince Fumo and Dwight Evans in telling Sugarhouse and Foxwoods that they have to move. When the Governor (the long time backer of bringing Casinos to Philly and PA) and Fumo (whose office wrote the bill) are telling these guys to move, you know they are in trouble.

And so, Fishtown and South Philly are saved from the potential devastation that a Casino can bring.

But...

Where now?

It still doesn't make sense to put a Casino in East Falls (or anywhere in Philadelphia, for that matter). It still doesn't make sense to kill potential developments at the Navy Yard with a windowless slot barn. Where the hell are these things going to go, and what is going to be done to make sure that the next neighborhood that is 'selected' truly wants a Casino there?

From a technical perspective, where do we go from here? Another set of hearings with the gaming review board?

And, after spending 2 years assuming that Casinos were going to go elsewhere, how do we protect neighborhoods that didn't think they would have to organize anymore (or ever) against these behemoths? The worst possible outcome is that as a result of this pressure, there is simply a backroom deal that puts the Casinos in two new neighborhoods, where the tried and true divide-and-conquer approach will be taken with community groups to grease the skids of casinos.

So, Casino Free Philadelphia, Philadelphia Neighborhood Alliance, Bill Green and others: What is going to happen to make sure that mistakes are not repeated, and new Philly neighborhoods are not damaged? Where do we go from here?

Sugarhouse, the proposed riverfront casino on the Fishtown/Northern Liberties border, needs to build on some submerged land owned by the state. The Street administration issued them a license to build on that land, which provoked lawsuits from state lawmakers and Philadelphia City Council, who claimed that the city had no right to issue that license.

Well, Michael Nutter just either made that lawsuit moot or upped the ante by revoking the license awarded by the city.

From the Inquirer:

At a City Hall news conference, he used harsh language to criticize the city action that preceded him, saying the license was "issued in error" by the city Commerce Department and was "unnecessarily rushed."

SugarHouse will have 30 days to appeal to the city to issue the license again, but only after a more extensive review process, Nutter said. He did not say how long that process would take - "it will be reasonable' - if SugarHouse chose to appeal...

The mayor reiterated that he is not a fan of the site for the SugarHouse or the Foxwoods casinos. In the case of SugarHouse, he said, concerns about traffic, parking, congestion and more were "brushed to the side" by the Street administration in a process that he characterized as improper. "It was an abuse of a discretion," Nutter said.

September 21, 2007 - Today, City Council canceled its scheduled public hearing on bills relating to SugarHouse's commercial entertainment district zoning and other slots gambling bills. According to political insiders, SugarHouse requested the delay after they unsuccessfully tried to force Fishtown Neighbors Association to the negotiation table.

Fishtown Neighbors Association (FNA) refused to sit down at the first negotiation on Monday claiming SugarHouse did not do its part to establish a fair table. FNA has agreed to negotiations with resiting as the first priority, and with the stipulation that any agreement would require the support 75% of the community. Northern Liberties Neighborhood Association, the civic association representing the neighborhood in which half of SugarHouse is located, has refused to enter into negotiations.

When Linda Soffer and Jeanne Kohl of the group Mothers Against SugarHouse (MASH) received news that Thomas "Tad" Decker would be co-chairing a fundraiser for Democratic mayoral nominee Michael Nutter, they were confused and outraged. Decker is the former chair of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, the governmental body that authorized the construction of two casinos along Philadelphia's Delaware riverfront and within a couple hundred feet of people's homes.

"I couldn't understand why Nutter would be taking money from a man who worked to deny Philadelphians a vote on where to put casinos" said Linda Soffer of MASH.