Ban table games in Bethlehem?

A year after they proposed a ban on gambling in Bethlehem, City Councilmen Gordon Mowrer and Joseph Leeson Jr. want to prohibit table games, craps and roulette wheels if council designates a zone for a slots casino on the South Side.Though only slots are legal in the state, Mowrer and Leeson said council should consider their proposal to tack on more gambling restrictions before it votes on a zoning amendment to allow ''licensed gaming facilities'' at the old Bethlehem Steel plant.
Mowrer and Leeson argued that council needs the debate on table games because of the potential impact to the city in decades to come, but council President Michael Schweder sees it as a political move.''This is a transparent ploy to kill the [zoning amendment],'' Schweder said.Council, which voted 5-2 earlier this month to support a casino at the old plant, is scheduled Tuesday to take its final vote on the zoning amendment. Any changes to the amendment could delay the decision for months.''A majority of council indicates a willingness to support slot machines in the city of Bethlehem,'' Leeson said. ''The question becomes: Are we willing to take a stand on blackjack, roulette?…Do we see ourselves as a Las Vegas or Atlantic City-style gambling or just slot machines? I think it's a proper question to ask and a good discussion to have.''

A copy of Mowrer's and Leeson's proposal was not available Friday from the city clerk's office.The proposal follows the public debate over a proposal from developers — including the Las Vegas Sands of Nevada — to build a casino they say will jump-start redevelopment of the old plant into an $879 million entertainment district of museums and shops.The Sands is vying for one of two available licenses for a free-standing casino in the state. The project has ignited one of the most divisive debates in the city's history, prompting more than 700 people to turn out last year when council considered banning slot machines. The proposal failed 4-3.

Two weeks ago, a majority of council backed the zoning amendment to allow gambling in the industrial-redevelopment district, which covers a portion of the old plant. Hundreds showed up at that meeting, most asking council not to allow slots because of crime, addiction and other ill-effects gambling brings.But supporters, some who said they didn't show up because they thought the debate was over, have said Bethlehem is going to feel the ill-effects whether the casino is at the plant or five miles away in Allentown. If a casino is in the city, they argue that Bethlehem will get a host fee to deal with those social problems.It is unclear how Leeson's and Mowrer's proposal will play out Tuesday.Schweder said he still must decide whether it is germane to council's debate. He said such a major change would send the zoning amendment back to planning for months.

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board is expected to award slots licenses Dec. 20.''They could have brought up this a year ago,'' Schweder said. ''Any [additional] amendment would send this proposal back to the planning process.''Mayor John Callahan, a casino supporter, questioned whether Mowrer's and Leeson's proposal was even legal. State law, he said, would trump local ordinances.

But Mowrer argued that the city needs protection in place now in case the city doesn't like what slots bring to town.''Table games are illegal right now,'' Mowrer said. ''But who knows what will happen in the future? This would give us a chance to look at what slots have done here.''Besides the gaming use, other zoning changes council will consider Tuesday include restrictions to prevent nuisance businesses — such as massage parlors, adult-oriented bookshops and pawn shops — from proliferating near casinos or each other.