Island Lake enacts ban on new video gambling licenses
After repeated discussions and repeated delays, the Island Lake village board has re-established a moratorium on new video gambling licenses in town.
The ban, approved Thursday night by a 3-2 vote, is effective immediately and expires March 11, 2021.
A new moratorium first was put up for a vote at the village board's Jan. 9 meeting, but the vote was delayed multiple times as Trustee Chuck Cermak lobbied for Island Foods, a grocery store at 223 E. State Road, to get a license.
Trustees Dan Powell, Richard McLaughlin Jr. and Harold England voted Thursday to enact the moratorium. Cermak and Mayor Charles Amrich voted against the ban.
Trustee Chris Carlsen abstained. Carlsen owns the local Chi-Town Dogs restaurant, which offers video gambling.
Cermak was disappointed by the board's verdict.
"We're a small village and we need income, and this is one way we can produce it," he said.
In addition to approving the moratorium, the board specifically denied a proposal to give Island Foods a gambling permit. Cermak was the only trustee who voted for the plan.
Cermak expressed concern about the store's fiscal health, which he said has declined since the opening last year of a Woodman's Market in nearby Lakemoor.
Carlsen abstained from the Island Foods-related vote, too.
Video gambling has been allowed in Island Lake since 2014, five years after it was legalized in Illinois.
In 2015, the board tried to stop local gambling expansion by halting the issuing of liquor licenses to businesses that sell food but don't have full kitchens.
That maneuver didn't stop video gambling from growing in town. In 2015 and 2016, the number of businesses with machines grew from two to five.
In 2017, the board took a stricter approach by voting to stop issuing video gambling permits until June 2018. That ban wasn't renewed when it expired.
Six Island Lake businesses - Chi-Town Dogs, Sofia's Place, Sideouts Sports Tavern, Julie's Island Lake, Lakes Lucky Slots and a Thorntons gas station - now have gambling machines.
A permit has preliminarily been approved for a Circle K gas station and convenience store planned for the northwest corner of Route 176 and River Road.
Island Lake's video gambling machines attracted about $21.3 million in wagering in 2019, Illinois Gaming Board data indicates, up about 18% from $18 million the year before.
Island Lake collected $82,987 in revenue from the machines in 2019, up nearly 10% from $75,552 the year before.