The council of College Township, a municipality in Pennsylvania, wants to stop the state from licensing a $120 million mini-casino with 750 slot machines in the Nittany Mall, but is not sure there is much it can actually do. The deadline for it to opt out may have passed.
Hundreds of residents of the town of about 11,000 have written letters opposing or supporting the casino—although opponents far outnumber supporters. Supporters say the mini casino could be a shot in the arm for the mall.
On September 1, the council reviewed a timeline and asked questions about the potential casino. The most common question asked was whether the council could still opt out of being a host city and whether it could deny or rescind its previous approval of the development plan.
The township’s solicitor advised the council that its right to opt-out expired 60 days after August 2019.
According to Assistant Township Manager Mike Bloom, “Specific to the land development the solicitor noted that to date, the applicant and developer has been acting in reliance upon the townships decisions that you have taken — that being the decision related to the opt-in, opt-out as well as the conditional approval of the development — as such, the developer has continued to allocate considerable resources toward the proposed casino project, which supports their position.”
Some opponents have suggested that the council should appeal to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board and say there is considerable public opposition, and ask the board to deny the casino’s license. A council member suggested the town solicitor look into whether the town would be liable for a lawsuit by the casino developer if it did that.
In 2017 a bill became law that authorized gaming expansion in Pennsylvania. At that time municipalities were able to opt out of having a casino within its boundaries by sending a resolution to the Gaming Control Board by December 31, 2017. Several towns opted out, but College Township didn’t.
Councilmember Eric Bernier explained why: “The other municipalities had a lot more at risk if they had not opted out as opposed to College which already had any potential casino operation restricted to a very small area in the township where, at least on the surface, it looked like, you know, the infrastructure could support it and it … could contribute to the economic revitalization of the area.”
The commission could approve the project as soon as November although opponents may testify to the board on October 19. The proposal comes from Center County, whose principal Ira Lubert bid $10 million for a mini-casino license. Such a casino is defined as one-quarter the size of a normal Pennsylvania casino. Last year Bally’s announced a partnership with Lubert to build the casino.
