The other planned casino, SugarHouse in Fishtown and Northern Liberties, won a similar ruling in December.
The Supreme Court approvals extend to the absorption of streets that are part of both casinos' plan - streets either existing on the property or marked only on the city map. Green said the elimination of even paper streets equated to an unconstitutional taking of property. "It calls into question the entirety of the decisions of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in this regard," Green said.
Green also challenged the validity of agreements between the city and the casinos over taxes the casinos would pay the city. As a new construction project, the casinos normally would be entitled to a 10-year tax abatement. The agreement negotiated by the law department under Mayor John F. Street calls for the casinos to pay a percentage of the abated taxes. Green contends that such an agreement required Council approval.
Green wants to eliminate the tax abatement for the casinos.
Terry Gillen, Nutter's senior adviser who heads his casino response, called Green's ideas interesting. Nutter has supported moving the casinos to sites farther from homes.
"We're in the seventh inning of the ballgame, and it's not over," she said. "We're going to play the game until the end."
Nutter asked City Councilman Frank DiCicco not to cancel a hearing today on Foxwoods, the third of four DiCicco scheduled to examine Foxwoods' expected effect on the local economy, traffic, and police and fire services, among others.
DiCicco said he would go on with the hearings to get facts on the record, even though they now serve no legislative purpose.
He railed at the state legislature and Supreme Court in Council yesterday.
The hearings were "all about allowing a public process to continue, to allow the citizens of this city to be heard," said DiCicco. "And we have been denied that opportunity again."
DiCicco said the Supreme Court's decision, coupled with the 2004 Gaming Law that gave sole authority for choosing casino sites to the state Gaming Control Board, showed that "we don't matter in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania."
Also yesterday, Council gave final approval to Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown's bill to require tour guides in Center City to pass a certification test. The bill was amended last week to add language encouraging the city to include in the test the histories of various racial and ethnic groups.
Contact staff writer Jeff Shields at 215-854-4565 or jshields@phillynews.com.
