Palatine approves video gambling

Palatine's village council Monday night voted to allow video gambling in the village beginning July 1.

Only one member of the council, Tim Millar, voted against it, saying his district opposed it.

Village Manager Reid Ottesen said as many as six terminals would be allowed.

Floor plans would be subject to the approval of the liquor commission.

Ottesen said applicants would need to be a liquor license holder for at least one year before applying for a video gaming license.

"That's really designed so that we establish a track record with them as a license holder for a liquor license before we would consider this additional privilege," he said.

No video gaming or signage will be allowed.

There will be a video gaming terminal fee of $1,000 per terminal. There will also be a $5,000 license fee for a video gaming license.

During the discussion at the Police Policy and Code Services Committee meeting prior to the full council meeting, Mayor Jim Schwantz declared his support, saying, "Everybody knows where I stand on gaming. I've been against gaming from the very beginning."

He said that when the issue first came up in 2019, "My concerns were potential crime that can come with gaming." But he said, "That's been vetted. That's not a problem. We understand that. We have talked to our police chief, and that's something that's been alleviated as far as my mind goes."

He said he was also concerned about what it would look like.

"This is the town I grew up in. This is the town I have chosen to live in for the rest of my life. What's the overall look of this town going to be? And I think that the ordinance calls that out. This is a very strict ordinance."

Schwantz said one factor that convinced him was a sunset provision that is contained in the ordinance.