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Five months after the proposal of a slot machine gaming
facility in Straban Township, citizens are expecting a decision soon. The
hang-up seems to be in whether the zoning board will grant a special
exception to the proposed casino to circumvent local zoning regulations. The
proposed casino will be known as Crossroads Gaming Resort and Spa (complete
with slot machines, gaming tables, shops, and restaurants)—and if the
alleged biases in the zoning board can be eliminated it looks like the slot
machine casino has a chance a gaining board approval.
The local zoning board faced scrutiny when one of its three members was
blatantly biased against the slot machines and casinos as evidenced by her
“No Casino” sign posted on her property—as per Judge Gillespie’s request,
Marcella Krammerer was determined biased and asked to recuse herself from
the boards decision. The other board member with alleged bias is still
eligible to make the slot machine casino decision because his alleged
offense done by his wife, and therefore he is still unbiased. So, with the
bias now eradicated from the zoning board, according to David La Torre a
spokesman for Chance Enterprises (developer of the Crossroads project) “We
certainly believe this project fits within all zoning requirements and
certainly respect the hard work the township has done on this project.
They've had a difficult job and we're hopeful that the vote will go our way
and we expect it will."
Now the next major question centers on this—if the zoning board approves the
slot machine casino, will the Pennsylvania Gaming Board grant Straban one of
the coveted slot machine licenses in the state? According to Susan Star
Paddock of the No Casino Gettysburg organization, "If [Crossroads does] not
get zoning approval, it will significantly impair their ability to get a
license." Her opinion is optimistic even if the zoning board grants the slot
machine casino approval because she sincerely believes the Gaming Control
Board will not award Crossroads one of the slot machine licenses.
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