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Developer Sues Pennsylvania Leaders

PENNSYLVANIA – As reported by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Beaver County developer C.J. Betters filed a federal lawsuit Friday against Gov. Ed Rendell and the leaders of the Pennsylvania Legislature charging that provisions in the state's new gambling law were written specifically to block his efforts to build a thoroughbred racetrack with a slot machine casino in Hays.

"'We believe this legislation is outrageous, and we're not going to stand by and take it,' said Betters' attorney, Thomas W. King III, of the Butler law firm Dillon, McCandless, King, Coulter and Graham, during a news conference.

"Betters' venture, Pittsburgh Development Group, is seeking to strip-mine 650 acres on a hillside in Hays, near the South Side, to build a $600 million retail and entertainment complex called Pittsburgh Palisades Park.

"The centerpiece would be a thoroughbred racetrack and slots parlor to be managed by Churchill Downs of Kentucky. In addition, the development would include housing, a hotel, shops and restaurants.

"Three provisions in the state's gambling law are illegal because they prevent this development -- and only this development -- from securing a state slots license, King said. As a result, the law violates Betters' constitutional right to equal protection under the law and should be thrown out or rewritten, he said…"

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