By Gina Passarella
Of the Legal Staff
As the city of Philadelphia and representatives from SugarHouse Casino begin to put their differences aside and work toward construction of the casino in Philadelphia, the special master assigned to hear any disputes between the two parties has issued his first directive.
Judge John W. Herron gave the city nine orders to be accomplished in the coming days and weeks, all in an effort to move along the building of the casino along the Delaware River in Philadelphia.
After the Supreme Court ruled last month that the city needed to give SugarHouse and its parent company, HSP Gaming, the foundation permit required to start building, both sides said they will work together and the city issued the permit.
In his April 6 directive, Herron told the city, among other things, to issue certain other permits, make changes to city maps to reflect approvals of the site and implement in the next two weeks a streamlined development plan.
The casino also doesn’t have to get an air quality study done. Herron said the city would either have to waive the need for the study or show cause why SugarHouse should be required to get one when the city has failed in the last 34 years to create guidelines and procedures for accomplishing the task and has not enforced the requirement upon any other developer.
“The above directive is issued in consideration of the proceedings before the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, hearings before this master …submissions by the parties and the master’s express finding that the City and City Council have engaged in a pattern of conduct designed to intentionally delay and frustrate the issuance of permits and approvals required for the construction of SugarHouse Casino,” Herron said in his directive.
SugarHouse came out with a scaled down development plan this week that would bring the casino down to one level and allow for better views of the riverfront. Both SugarHouse and Foxwoods, the other casino slated for development in Philadelphia, went before the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board today to offer updates of their project developments.
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