Several local bar and restaurant representatives Tuesday implored the Naperville City Council Tuesday to lift the city’s 15-year ban against video gambling, but city officials did not entertain the request.
“By lifting the ban and supporting local businesses, the city can help ensure that those of us who have invested in Naperville for decades can continue to thrive,” Ken Eng, owner of Anthem Ale House, told council members. “This isn’t about changing the fabric of our community. It’s about giving local businesses a fighting chance to survive.”
Eng was joined by reps from Danny’s Pub & Grill, White Tavern, Paris Bistro and Lantern Tavern, who used the public comment portion of the meeting in an attempt to persuade leaders that allowing gaming machines would provide a much-needed boon to business.
Council members said they welcomed the feedback but were tepid when it came to lending their support to the businesses’ request.
“I think this is a good first step for you guys to come here,” Councilman Josh McBroom said. Still, “it’s a heavy lift,” he said. “I think it’s going to take a lot of work.”
To have the question added to a future council agenda, at least three members would have to show support for the request during the new business portion of the meeting.
The matter didn’t even get that far.
After public comments, Mayor Scott Wehrli asked if any council member wanted to bring up video gambling during new business. No one responded.
Naperville has long held firm against allowing video gaming within town limits, even as it has become more common elsewhere in recent years.
Illinois’ Video Gaming Act legalized video gambling machines at bars, restaurants, truck stops, fraternal organizations and veterans organizations in 2009. A provision in the act allows municipalities and counties to prohibit them within their boundaries, an option the city chose to enact.
Today, 23 municipalities in DuPage County allow gaming outright or to a limited extent, according to the Illinois Gaming Board. Near Naperville, that list includes Aurora and Warrenville.
For the past five years, video gambling aslo has been allowed in unincorporated areas of DuPage County. In that time, 28 establishments have made gaming terminals available around unincorporated DuPage, accruing nearly $1.63 million in gaming tax revenue for the county, Gaming Board data shows.
Despite Naperville’s ban, the practice is has crept into town. Due to a zoning fluke, a gaming parlor with six slot machines is slated to open Oct. 1 in an unincorporated part of the city at 1001 E. Ogden Ave. next month.
Owner Benny Salamone said this business will be called Betsy’$ Naperville. He has five other Betsy’$ locations in Rockford and a sixth in South Beloit.
The local business representatives cited that parlor at the council meeting in addition to the presence of video gambling in neighboring towns.
“It’s frustrating to even see a new incoming gaming parlor in unincorporated Naperville on Ogden Avenue down the street, owned by someone who is not even from our city,” said Bryce Logsdon on behalf of White Tavern, which is also located on Ogden.
“Our customers are asking for (gaming), and we’re losing customers to West Chicago, Warrenville, Aurora, Woodridge and other communities that are allowing it,” said George Fiegle, one of the owners of Danny’s Pub & Grill on Route 59. “It’s putting us at a competitive disadvantage.”
Bar and restaurant owners also spoke about the financial hardships they continue to face following the COVID-19 pandemic. Tapping into an additional revenue stream with video gambling would help, they said.
“Having gaming would definitely allow us to thrive, or at least survive, which is something at least I’m planning to do with or without (gaming), but it’s very tough,” Jonathan Santos, owner of Katrina Latin Bites and Bar and Paris Bistro. He added he was currently going through bankruptcy proceedings at Paris Bistro.
Teri Feldott, general manager of Lantern Tavern in downtown Naperville, likewise spoke about post-pandemic problems as well as the challenges posed by the ongoing downtown construction. Replacement of the Washington Street Bridge just down the street from the Lantern has been particularly difficult, she said.
“Our daytime business is basically gone,” Feldott said. “Now we hear that the bridge won’t be finished until sometime next summer — hopefully. … The lack of easy access to our establishment (because of construction) has been really detrimental to our business.”
The competition for customers from national restaurant chains in town or large entertainment centers such as the under-construction Block 59 complex is another obstacle, speakers said.
Councilman Ian Holzhauer acknowledged the difficulty of getting through COVID and the high inflation that followed. Yet “having said that, with regard to gaming, that’s going to be a real hard lift for me,” he said.
Councilman Nate Wilson said he didn’t have a “huge objection” to gaming but wanted to hear more from other businesses.
After the matter stalled at the dais Tuesday, Wehrli said told the business reps there are “certainly more conversations that you can have with other members in the business community, the chambers of commerce and other areas.”
Asked after the meeting whether he could see the gaming ban request returning to council, Wehrli said, “It’s hard to say.”
“I mean, all of the business advocacy groups, economic development groups and everything else can certainly weigh in on this, but in the end it’s our residents that really need to weigh in and understand the implications of what this would look like in their community,” he said. “And I’d be very concerned with hearing what our constituents have to say.”
