The state Supreme Court won't hear arguments challenging the award of the Pittsburgh slots license until mid-May, a timetable that could further delay the opening of proposed casinos here and elsewhere in the state.
Both losing bidders for the Pittsburgh license, Forest City Enterprises and Isle of Capri Casinos Inc., have filed appeals seeking to reverse the Dec. 20 decision by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board to award the casino to Don Barden and his company, PITG Gaming LLC.
Forest City and Isle of Capri are among four losing bidders to file appeals. The others are owners of the proposed Riverwalk slot machine parlor in Philadelphia, where two casino licenses were awarded, and the owners of the proposed Pocono Manor casino, challenging one of the two licenses issued outside of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
Philadelphia City Council and three groups of Philadelphia residents and civic groups also have appealed.
Under a schedule issued yesterday, the Supreme Court has asked those filing appeals to submit supporting legal briefs by March 30. The gaming board will have until late April to respond.
It is anticipated that the court will hear oral arguments on the appeals starting May 14 in Harrisburg. It is not known how soon after that it will rule.
The timetable could create further delays for the proposed Pittsburgh casino, even if Mr. Barden keeps the license. He already has pushed back his opening date from March 2008 to summer 2008 because of the time it took for the board to issue formal orders awarding licenses and for the 30-day appeals period to run its course.
PITG Gaming officials have been saying the schedule for opening the casino is 14 months from the end of the appeals period. Even if the court were to rule immediately after hearing arguments in mid-May, which is unlikely, that would push back the opening to mid-July.
If the court takes longer, the delay in opening could run into the fall.
Bob Oltmanns, spokesman for Mr. Barden, declined comment yesterday.
Christopher Craig, legal counsel to state Sen. Vincent Fumo, D-Philadelphia, one of the architects of the state slots law, said rulings from the court after oral arguments "could be as quick as a month or it could take much longer. It really depends on the nature of the case."
Mr. Craig called the appeals timetable set up by the court "extremely fast." The state's slots gambling law established an expedited review process that allowed casino appeals to bypass Commonwealth Court, the normal starting point, and go directly to the Supreme Court.
The schedule "really does signal the court is seeking to move these appeals and resolve them on a fast track," Mr. Craig said. "It's way shorter than how things could be held up if we didn't write the law so [an appeal] leaps over the Commonwealth Court stage."
Nonetheless, Joseph Weinert, senior vice president of Spectrum Gaming Group, an industry consultant, said there's a "very real possibility" that the appeals will result in construction delays, even if the awards are upheld.
"Most likely companies are going to be hesitant to put such tremendous capital at work given the potential risk of an adverse court decision," he said. "You don't want to start sinking millions of dollars in the ground with the possibility that it could be overturned."
If the Pittsburgh award is upheld, Mr. Barden plans to build a $435 million casino along the waterfront on the North Shore, between the West End Bridge and Carnegie Science Center.
In its appeal, Isle of Capri asked the court to reverse the gaming board and award it the license. Forest City, doing business as Station Square Gaming, is asking the court to send the matter back to the gaming board for further action.
