did y'all see this today?

PHILADELPHIA, PA: Today citizens publicly announced that they have uncovered a law prohibiting casinos in along North Delaware Avenue. The law is zoning code Ch 14-1624 which prohibits any venue whose primary purpose is "entertainment of guests and patrons" is allowed. Casinos would thus be excluded.

This law applies to Delaware Avenue from Spring Garden to Lehigh Avenue. It would exclude the SugarHouse site but not the Foxwoods site. (Incidentally, it would exclude the Riverwalk and Pinnacle site.)

This law was created in 2002 in response to the development in the late to mid 90s when Fishtown and Northern Liberties were plagued by Delaware Avenue nightclubs. The nightclubs brought shootings and dangerous drunken behavior to the neighborhood. As a result, the community made the zoning prohibition.

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REFLECTIONS OF A ROCK LOBSTER

What I love about this is they're using the same zoning law that has kept the waterfront an abandoned trash heap.

How exactly are Nimbys United For A Better Waterfront going to improve that waterfront when they are touting a law that disallows anything for "the entertainment of guests and patrons" which would include restaurants, theaters, etc....

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that. -George Carlin

although I agree with the theme of your comment, the fact is THIS law is only 4 years old ... obviously the 'trash heap' is decades in the making....

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REFLECTIONS OF A ROCK LOBSTER

I'd be a bit worried if I was the one paying lawyers who are just now finding the statute-I could of told them months ago for free.

I would also be wondering why Dicicco didn't bring this up-after all, he was the one who sponsered the bill.

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Peter Cetera:
Sometimes I just forget
Say things I might regret
It breaks my heart to see you crying

that was exactly what went through MY mind as well alesis (the Dicicco connection)...

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REFLECTIONS OF A ROCK LOBSTER

My thoughts exactly.

What a knucklehead.

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"Ah, good taste! What a dreadful thing! Taste is the enemy of creativeness."

Pablo Picasso (1881–1973)

If any proposal that includes Entertainment of Guests or Patrons, like restaurants, theaters, hotels, etc. were proposed, they'd have to get a variance, and we could decide for ourselves what we want in OUR BACK YARDS.

Maybe this whole casino horror has scared the people who oppose virtually everything to rethink their positions. I for one don't want to turn the entire water front into Kelly Drive II. There are plenty of development possibilities that most of the effected neighborhoods would welcome.

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If you can't serve as a good example, you'll just have to be a horrible warning.

OK, sure-we could decide for ourselves what we want in our back yards.
When I go and get my lunch from essene everyday, I see a casiNO sign at one of our neighbor's homes on 3rd and Monroe, so I'll use the property as a Queen Village example.

The measurement from their corner to the closest corner of the proposed casino location is approx. 3,800 ft., as measured in triangulation to determine the shortest path between the two points.

3800ft. would suggest that the same casiNO neighbor would have say in what bars can and can't go into old city. I certainly don't remember QVNA, Bella Vista United, South Street Headhouse District, or any other group being asked about what should or shouldn't go into Old City.

What's my point? Its not our "BACK YARDS". Would casinos impact traffic, congestion, etc.-sure, which is why each neighborhood group is currently providing input-but to suggest that it is going in our backyard is an exaggeration. Even if we would impose current use regulation constraints on the proposed foxwoods site, no part of Queen Village would be within 1,000 feet of the site, which is why they instrumented the 1500ft law specifically against Foxwoods, which barely touches the SouthEastern most corner of Queen's Village. Of course, on that corner there is a monthly storage facility, so I highly doubt they would be defined as a bereaved neighbor.

Do I want casinos? No, but as neighbors we can't just inflate statistics and conjur falsities to prescribe an agenda, as its more shameful to be misled by a friend than to be deceived by a enemy.

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Peter Cetera:
Sometimes I just forget
Say things I might regret
It breaks my heart to see you crying

Swinefeld,
Where did you get the Dicicco quote from? Its priceless.

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Peter Cetera:
Sometimes I just forget
Say things I might regret
It breaks my heart to see you crying

I live in Pennsport, so it is fair to say that Foxwoods would be in my backyard.

But, according to the other bloggers, being anti-casino makes me a NIMBY. I'm selfishly looking out for my neighborhood and my property values and ignoring the "good" this will do for the city. (I don't think they will do much good, but you see my point.)

Thus, your argument leaves me stuck. As a pennsportan (is that a word) - I've got standing. But, to others, my neighborhood standing makes me biased.

The whole thing makes my head spin. But then, the arguments on this boards have become so circular, dominated by the same voices saying the same things, that I'm ready to give up.