PA Gaming Control Board Posts 15 Local-impact Reports

Release Strengthens Public Participation in Hearings

HARRISBURG: Continuing its commitment to an open and transparent licensing process, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board today announced that it has posted local-impact reports from 15 applicants for gaming licenses on its Web site, www.pgcb.state.pa.us. Reports from the remaining seven applicants will be posted by Friday March 10, 2006.

“The Gaming Control Board is completely committed to having a licensing process that is open and transparent to the public, and public input is critical to the process,” said Executive Director Anne LaCour Neeb. “With the Board’s public-input hearings on gaming applications starting April 5, members of the public must be familiar with what the applicants are proposing.

“Posting the reports on the Board’s Web site, along with the Board’s announcement earlier this week that hard copies are available for public inspection at the PGCB offices, will help the public become better informed,” Neeb added. “That, in turn, will strengthen the presentations at the public-input hearings.”

To access electronic copies of the impact reports, visit www.pgcb.state.pa.us and click on the “Public Input Hearings/Local Impact Reports” button. Links to the applicants’ reports are organized by the public-input hearing at which that application will be considered. Information on the public-input hearings is also available by clicking on the “Public Input Hearings/Local Impact Reports” button.

The public-input hearings are scheduled over 13 days in nine Pennsylvania communities in April and May. Information gathered at the hearings will become part of the formal record the Board considers when deciding which proposed facilities to license. All hearings will be open to the public and the media.

People interested in speaking at the public-input hearings must submit a registration form that can be accessed via the Board’s Web site, www.pgcb.state.pa.us. Registration forms received by the Board must be postmarked no later than March 17, 2006, to be considered. Guidelines for participation have been developed for the hearings and are also posted on the Web site.

Should the number of requests exceed the time allowed for a public-input hearing, those not selected to speak will be able to submit written comments for inclusion in the permanent public record.

The locations and dates of the hearings, as well as the proposed facilities to be discussed at each, are:

    • April 5, Gettysburg, Gettysburg College (Crossroads Gaming)
    • April 6-7, Harrisburg, State Museum (Mountainview)
    • April 10-12, Philadelphia, Drexel University (HSP Gaming; Philadelphia Entertainment & Development; PNK (Pa), LLC; Riverwalk Casino; Keystone Redevelopment; Chester Downs; Greenwood Gaming);
    • April 18-19, Pittsburgh, Omni William Penn Hotel (IOC Pittsburgh Inc.; PITG Gaming; Station Square Gaming; Washington Trotting)
    • April 21, Erie, Gannon University (Presque Isle Downs)
    • April 27, Poconos, Split Rock Resort (Downs Racing; Mount Airy; Pocono Manor)
    • April 28, Lehigh Valley, Crowne Plaza Allentown Hotel (Sands Bethworks Gaming; Boyd PA Partners; Tropicana PA, LLC)
    • May 2, Uniontown, Holiday Inn Holidome & Conference Center (Woodlands Fayette)
    • May 3, Somerset, Hidden Valley Resort (Seven Springs Farm)

The PGCB offices, at the Strawberry Square office building on Walnut Street in Harrisburg, are open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.

Under Act 71 of 2004, the Gaming Control Board is responsible for issuing 14 gaming licenses – seven at horse-racing tracks; five standalone facilities, including two in Philadelphia and one in Pittsburgh; and two at existing resorts.