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SugarHouse hearing goes sour16 November 2007PENNSYLVANIA -- As reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer: "It got downright nasty yesterday at the Commerce Department hearing over whether Philadelphia has authority to grant the SugarHouse casino permission to build on submerged lands on the Delaware River waterfront. "Police removed anti-casino activists from the Convention Center auditorium at a rate of one every 10 minutes. "Construction workers eager for jobs from the project hissed at State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo (D., Phila.), who opposes city action to help SugarHouse. "...The business of this raucous session was the matter of SugarHouse's desire to win from the city the right to build on 11 acres of submerged land. "Fumo and City Councilman Frank DiCicco assert that only the General Assembly has the power to grant that permission. Christopher Craig, a legal aide for Fumo, said a state law in 1978 repealed the city's authority over submerged lands. "...DiCicco said lawyers for City Council had already drawn up the papers to sue the city if it grants SugarHouse so-called riparian rights to the waterfront property. Council passed a resolution yesterday supporting such action. "...DiCicco, who represents the neighborhood in Fishtown and Northern Liberties where the SugarHouse project is proposed, favors putting the casino somewhere farther from houses. "The SugarHouse group, headed by Chicago investor Neil G. Bluhm, has been unable to get the zoning approvals it needs to begin construction..." |