On September 6th, 2008, the state Supreme Court did some irreparable damage to the government’s ability to regulate waterfront gaming when it decided in favor of the SugarHouse Casino’s permit to construct over the Delaware River, according to the argument of the City of Philadelphia in a court filing. In a thirteen page argument, the city lawyers commented that the court’s August 22nd, 2008 decision shows no comprehensive study regarding the issue and ignores more than one hundred fifty years of precedent.
SugarHouse’s lawyer, Stephen A. Cozen, could not be reached for any comment. The court’s decision is the latest development over constructing casinos in Philadelphia-specifically the campaign of the Nutter administration to move the two casino facilities, approved by Philadelphia for construction in front of the Delaware River waterfront elsewhere. The former Street administration wants to see the SugarHouse Casino in Fishtown/Northern Liberties and Foxwoods Casino in Pennsport constructed on their chosen locations.
Just last year, the city Commerce Department, citing a 1907 law, released a permit that allowed the SugarHouse casino to construct over 12 acres of state-owned submerged riverbed. After that decision, angry state legislators petitioned the Supreme Court, stating that the city was ignoring their authority. In January, the new Nutter administration tried to revoke the permit, saying that it had been given in error.
SugarHouse appealed to Supreme Court, which in turn ruled that both the city and the state shared the authority on issuing the license, but said that the revocation of the license is invalid. City lawyers said that the decision is a radical departure from the usual law in which the interest of the public holds the first priority and therefore the license should be revocable. The lawyers charged that the decision gives SugarHouse casino use of the land in perpetuity.
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