Lodi Council OKs move to extend card room hours
The Lodi City Council voted four to one to introduce amendments to the city ordinance to allow card rooms to be open 24 hours in Lodi during its meeting Wednesday night. Councilwoman JoAnne Mounce was opposed and Council Bob Johnson participated via phone.
According to City Attorney Janice Magdich, the Lodi Parkwest Casino requested that the changes be made to the ordinance. Currently the casino is closed from 4a.m. to 8a.m. and is open 20 hours, seven days a week, and it was looking to extend its hours to 24 hours. Senate Bill 654, which became effective Jan.1, allows card rooms to operate 24 hours a day seven days a week given the appropriate local ordinance and use permit, Magdich said. She pointed out that neither the police department nor the community development department object to extending the hours.
A majority of the council, with the exception of one member, were in favor of the casino extending its hours.
Councilman Doug Kuehne said that he was chair on the planning commission when they originally approved the casino just over 10 years ago, and the casino has had a pretty clean record other than the one homicide/attempted robbery that occurred in the parking lot in February of last year. He said that they have been good partners with the city, and didn’t see any problems that would give him a red flag.
Mounce said she couldn’t support the changes because when the casino was approved in 2007, the owner Chris Ray “promised” he wasn’t going to ask for changes. She pointed out that they have requested a few changes over the years.
“I recognize the fact that you have not had issues. You’ve been a good partner with the city, and I appreciate that very much, but from my perspective, a promise is a promise,” she said. “Never at any of those times did you ever come to me and say ‘gosh JoAnne I just can’t keep that promise I’m really sorry, but it’s for the betterment of my business’ and explain to me why. I appreciate it, but I’m a principle-based girl. You already soured the water by (previously) coming back and asking for extended hours.”
Councilman Mark Chandler disagreed and pointed out to Mounce that over time things do change. Councilman Bob Johnson pointed out that a lot of the changes made over the years were in response to changes in state law. He expressed that the casino has been “absolutely stellar” to have a business relationship with. He couldn’t see any reason why the council should support the change.
“If we had a business relationship with all the other businesses in this town the way we’ve had with these people, we’d be home free,” Johnson said.
Magdich also confirmed that the changes were made in response to state law, and pointed out that to extend its hours, the casino would not only require a change in the ordinance but a change in its use permit as well. It will have to come back before the council for approval of the use permit change, she said.
“It easy for me to support this, no questions asked,” Mayor Alan Nakanishi said.
During public comment Ray, the owner of the casino, explained that the Feb. 2017 homicide/attempted robbery incident occurred outside of its hours of operation. He said the casino currently opens its doors at 8:30 a.m. and it begins play at 9 a.m. On any given day, he said it has up to 10 people waiting for the doors to open, and it was during that time that the incident occurred. Ray also pointed out that he couldn’t remember what he told Mounce over a decade ago.