Lincolnwood to host public meeting on video gambling

Lincolnwood trustees on April 19 decided to let the public weigh in on a proposal to end the village’s ban on video gambling by allowing a Des Plaines-based “gaming cafe” chain to open at a strip mall on the 3900 block of West Devon Avenue.

Lengthy discussions regarding the current ban on video gambling have taken up time at three Committee of the Whole meetings so far this year, but village trustees have yet to come up with a decision after grappling between whether the extra revenue would be worth a dent in what officials say is the village’s clean image as a family-oriented town.

After receiving positive feedback from Lincolnwood police Chief Bob LaMantia, who visited four gaming cafes owned by the company that wants to open a location in Lincolnwood, village officials decided to revisit the debate at a public hearing sometime later this summer.

The hearing will give residents a chance to give their input on whether Lincolnwood should follow in the footsteps of other nearby towns like Morton Grove, Norridge, and Wheeling and lift its ban on gaming.

“Is this the picture of what we want Lincolnwood to be?” asked Trustee Craig Klatzco during the April 19 Committee of the Whole meeting. “Granted, where they want to put (the gaming cafe) is a great place and it will generate money, but it’s a lot of money and I don’t know if that’s the way we want to be bought.”

Laredo Hospitality, the parent company of Stella’s Place, wants to expand its 27 locations in Illinois by opening a full-service gambling cafe serving wine, beer, and food in Lincolnwood at an empty strip mall store front in Lincolnwood. The company has also recently applied for permits in Norridge, Prospect Heights, and has plans to open in Morton Grove, according to Charity Johns, chief operating officer for Laredo Hospitality.

Illinois reversed a statewide ban on video gambling in 2012, giving municipalities home rule authority to decide whether to lift local bans or keep current laws in place. Towns that have been quick to usher in video gambling like Morton Grove, for example, have raked in hundreds of thousands of additional tax dollars each year.

Aside from annual licensing fees paid to the municipality by the bar or restaurant that hosts gaming and the operator of the gaming terminal, towns get 5 percent of the total gambling losses (the state of Illinois takes 25 percent, and the bar owner and gaming terminal operator each get a 35 percent cut).

In Morton Grove, patrons spent $55.3 million on gaming and lost roughly $4.2 million in 2015 between the village’s 42 gaming terminals, according to revenue reports from the Illinois Gaming Board.

For the village’s 5 percent cut of the losses, it took in $213,294 last year, in addition to thousands more in licensing fees charged to the bars and gaming terminal operators.

Officials for Laredo Hospitality said a Stella’s Cafe location could bring in up to $40,000 in additional annual revenue for the village.

While municipalities have the power to decide whether to allow gaming in their jurisdiction, the state still exercises some control over local gambling, including a blanket rule that allows every restaurant or bar in a town that holds a liquor license to apply for a gaming license.

Specific limitations on gambling can still be created by local officials, however, including restrictions on the number of gaming terminals allowed in each town, or limiting gaming to only specific business districts, according to the village.

Trustee Jesal Patel said the two school districts that cover Lincolnwood—Districts 74 and 219—should have a chance to weigh in before the village makes a decision.

“It’s good to consider the image of the village, but I don’t look at Morton Grove or Wheeling and think of them as big gaming towns,” Patel said. “We need to look at both sides of the coin, and I think we need to use the public process to determine whether we want this as a village.”

The village is expected to schedule a date for the public hearing soon, according to village manager Tim Wiberg.

Natalie Hayes is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.