Legality of casino at track questioned

Alan Sayre

Thursday, June 16, 2005 | 9:42 a.m.

NEW ORLEANS -- A resident living near the New Orleans Fair Grounds filed suit Wednesday contending that the track's plans for a slot machine casino are illegal -- a day before the City Council planned to consider the gambling proposal.

Ever since Louisville, Ky.-based Churchill Downs Inc. bought the then-bankrupt track last year, the company and residents of the historic Faubourg St. John neighborhood have been at odds over the proposed casino's operation. Churchill Downs backed down from its original plan to have 24-hour gambling and said it would settle for an average of 16 hours a day -- still more than many residents living near the track want.

The lawsuit, filed by Faubourg St. John resident Jerry Jacobs, who lives five blocks from the Fair Grounds and also operates a home-based business, challenges the 2003 referendum through which Orleans Parish voters approved the casino and proposed zoning variances for the casino.

Churchill Downs Chief Operating Officer Andrew Skehan said the lawsuit will likely amount to an inconvenience at most.

"We really don't see it as any more than that," Skehan said. "We're very confident we're on solid ground. ... We've done exhaustive research on the issue."

Attorney Jane Booth, who represents Jacobs, said the city charter limits New Orleans to one land-based casino -- a spot now occupied by Harrah's New Orleans Casino. She said that before the referendum was held, the City Council should have sent a proposed charter change to voters allowing additional land casinos.

"Once the citizens passed that, presuming they did, then it would have been appropriate to put it (slot machines) on the ballot," Booth said.

State law allows for Louisiana's four horse racing tracks, including the Fair Grounds, to have slot machine casinos, provided that voters in the track's parish approve. But Booth said the state does not have the authority to override the city's home-rule charter on zoning issues -- another key contention of the lawsuit.

Churchill Downs is asking that for a zoning designation that would classify the casino an "accessory" to the race track. The lawsuit contends that designation would be illegal because the casino would run year-round, while horse racing is held at the track only from November through March.

In addition, the casino would be housed in its own 33,000-square-foot building and would not depend upon the main racing facility for its operation, thus making the "accessory" designation illegal, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit does not ask for a court order to stop the City Council from considering the issue today. Booth said it would be up to the council to decide whether to go ahead with its consideration of the casino before a court rules.

Opponents of the casino say slot machine gambling at the Fair Grounds would worsen traffic, noise and crime in the track's mostly residential surroundings -- particularly at night. Churchill Downs has agreed to pay for extra patrols in the area.

The state's other three race tracks -- Delta Downs at Vinton, Evangeline Downs at Opelousas and Louisiana Downs at Bossier City -- have opened slot machine casinos. Churchill Downs has said that casino revenue is needed to boost racing purses at the Fair Grounds and keep it competitive with other racing venues during the winter season, such as Oaklawn Park in Arkansas, Gulfstream Park in Florida and Delta Downs.

Skehan sought to emphasize that Churchill Downs' primary focus at the Fair Grounds is to improve horse racing in New Orleans and that slot machines are only a means to help generate money that will be spent to boost purses and improve facilities. The company has begun renovations to facilities on the back stretch and plans to spend about $4 million on additional improvement to stables and trainers' staff dormitories during the next two seasons.

"All we want to do is fix the racing program and we would rather focus solely on racing," Skehan said. "The problem is, with all the other race tracks that have slots now, it's not a level playing field."