? Previously: The Oak Tree Restaurant’s owner asked the city council to overturn the city’s 25-year cardroom ban. In September, the council approved the first reading of the repeal.
? What’s new: The city planning commission is working to establish an overlay district to limit cardrooms to certain areas of the city.
? What’s next: The council will vote to approve an overlay district or interim zoning restrictions and take the final vote on overturning the cardroom ban on Dec. 6.
After listening to months of public testimony and taking multiple votes, the Woodland City Council is poised to make a final decision on whether to allow cardrooms.
? Previously: The Oak Tree Restaurant's owner asked the city council to overturn the city's 25-year cardroom ban. In September, the council approved the first reading of the repeal.
? What's new: The city planning commission is working to establish an overlay district to limit cardrooms to certain areas of the city.
? What's next: The council will vote to approve an overlay district or interim zoning restrictions and take the final vote on overturning the cardroom ban on Dec. 6.
The council has scheduled a final vote to overturn the 25-year ban on cardrooms at its meeting Dec. 6. The council approved the first reading on the ordinance in September by a vote of 5-1. The council is awaiting a recommendation on zoning from the city’s planning commission before taking the final vote.
At a September meeting, Councilwoman Merilee McCall voted against overturning the ban because she worried about allowing cardrooms without more specific zoning restrictions. McCall urged the council to slow down the process and take the time to establish clearer parameters before reversing the prohibition.
“We’re not voting as to whether we’re going to open a cardroom for the Oak Tree (Restaurant),” she said at the time. “We’re voting as to whether we’re going to open a cardroom for the entire municipality of Woodland.”
If the ban is overturned without any additional restrictions, cardrooms could be permitted in multiple zones. The city’s code allows cardrooms in the highway commercial, central business district and heavy industrial areas. The council also worried the code might be interpreted to consider cardrooms “public recreation facilities,” which would allow cardrooms in the light industrial area and various residential zones, according to the city.
Repealing the ban without amending the zoning code “would result in commercial public cardrooms being permitted in the majority of the area within the city limit,” according to the city’s proposed interim zoning ordinance.
So the council decided to tighten the zoning.
The city council’s goal is to create an overlay district that would restrict cardrooms to certain areas of the city, Clerk Mari Ripp said. The city of La Center, which has four cardrooms, has an overlay district.
The Woodland planning commission is tasked with establishing the overlay district for the city. If the commission needs more time to investigate, the council may approve a six-month interim zoning control. The interim control would only allow cardrooms in the highway commercial zone, which runs along both sides of Interstate 5.
The planning commission will hold a public hearing on the proposed interim zoning at 7 p.m. Tuesday. The council will approve either the interim zoning or an overlay district, if established, at the Dec. 6 meeting, Ripp said.
Oak Tree Restaurant owner Belal Alkhatib expressed interest several months ago in adding a cardroom to the 50-year-old restaurant near I-5 and asked the council to overturn the ban.
Cardrooms are regulated by the Washington State Gambling Commission. According to a commission newsletter, cardrooms in 2009 made up about 12 percent of the state’s net gambling receipts, with the lottery representing 9 percent and tribal casinos 72 percent.
Marissa Harshman: 360-735-4546 or marissa.harshman@columbian.com.
