The city council in Urbana, Illinois recently approved two new gambling-hall licenses and renewed three. Lindy Lu’s Place and Lucky Luke’s were granted licenses to open, and Hot Spot, Lacey’s Place and Emma’s Eatery can continue to operate under renewed licenses. The city now has nine gambling establishments, which receive G2 licenses.
Alderman Dennis Roberts said, “I’m really ready to cap the G2 license after this evening. We’re going to have a gaming hall available for every 4,583 residents in Urbana.” A few months ago he proposed a moratorium on gambling licenses but voted for the new and renewed licenses since the
businesses fixed up their buildings in anticipation. Roberts said the gambling halls provide no “tangible value” to the city.
However, Mayor Laurel Prussing said, “Before video gambling was legal, gambling was going on, but it wasn’t taxed or regulated. I don’t think making it legal has made the gambling problem worse.” She noted Urbana has fewer gambling halls per capita than Champaign and Springfield, plus Urbana specifies the allowable distance between gambling operations. Prussing also said people are going to gamble no matter how many gambling halls are in operation.
Alderman Bill Brown said he recently visited Hot Spot and Lacey’s Place and noticed gambling-addiction information required by the city was not properly displayed. Prussing said she would follow up and take action if necessary.
