Traffic, safety among questions regarding proposed off-track betting facility
Investors who want to locate an off-track betting facility in tiny Green Oaks have been asked for more information before a recommendation is made.
Technically, the application to the village plan commission is to change the zoning ordinance to allow off-track betting as a permitted use subject to certain standards and regulations. Post Time Sports Bar and Grille LLC would operate the facility in the building currently occupied by Fatman Bowl, 13860 Rockland Road.
The group has a contract to buy the property and would remove the bowling alley, according to Vince Palmieri, an attorney and principal for the group. As proposed, Post Time would be the concessionaire under an agreement with Arlington International Racecourse, which would conduct the off-track wagering.
The village plan commission discussed the plan during a public hearing Wednesday but continued the matter for a traffic study and other data.
"We hope they can provide us with a little bit more demographic information - who comes to these, how far do they drive and how much revenue would it generate for the village," said village Trustee Bryan Muskat, liaison to the plan commission.
About a dozen residents attended and meeting was cordial, Muskat said. Fatman is in the village's general business district, which is part of a special financing district designated to spur development. Rondout School is nearby and traffic and safety were among the concerns of about a dozen residents who attended.
"We don't see it as a negative for the community," Palmieri said. "I think the opposition we got was from people who didn't have enough information."
Arlington has 14 off track betting licenses available under state law and currently operates at 10 locations, including one in Hoffman Estates, which opened April 1. Most are under an agreement with a private restaurant or bar and are regulated by the Illinois Racing Board.
"It's a process we go through on a regular basis," said Howard Sudberry, Arlington's marketing and communications director. "It's (Green Oaks) in the early stages and everybody is in the investigation process. We'll see where it goes."
Access to nearby I-94 was among the reasons it was chosen, said Palmieri, a Libertyville resident with an office in Green Oaks.
"It's an existing facility. It would not require a lot of work," he said.
The prospect of receiving 1 percent of each dollar wagered is alluring to a largely residential village that does not levy a property tax. In March, residents soundly defeated a village request for authorization to borrow $18.8 million for road repairs.
A preliminary estimate shows $10 million being wagered at the off-track betting facility but that amount could be as high as $20 million, Palmieri said. That would mean between $100,000 to $200,000 annually for Green Oaks.
According to information provided to the village, each dollar wagered also is subject to a 1.25 percent state tax which goes for operating costs of the Racing Board and related expanses and the host county also gets 1 percent.
It's just horse racing. It's not slot machines. It's not poker tables," Muskat said. "They want to run a first-class," operation, he added.