Woodland considers allowing card rooms
Council votes 6-1 to draft ordinance to repeal ban from 1985
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Woodland, WA — Twenty-five years ago, the Woodland City Council and voters banned card rooms from the city. Now the city council is considering a request from a local business owner to overturn the ordinance.
The Woodland City Council voted 6-1 at its Tuesday meeting to draft an ordinance to repeal the February 1985 decision. Councilman J.J. Burke opposed.
Following the ordinance approval in 1985, the city held a referendum election. The voters upheld the ban, passing the resolution by 61 percent, Mayor Chuck Blum said.
The possibility of overturning the ban was raised when Oak Tree Restaurant owner Belal Alkhatib expressed interest in adding a card room to the 50-year-old family restaurant. Alkhatib believes adding a card room to the restaurant will increase traffic and revenue.
“The economy did not do us any favors for the last two years,” he said. “The last two years, it’s been nothing but a major struggle. Unless something major happens to increase traffic, we could be in trouble.”
Councilman Benjamin Fredricks said he supported creating a new ordinance because residents will have a chance to express their views at future public hearings. Council members will also be able to debate whether to repeal the ban.
Burke and Blum, however, expressed interest in letting voters decide.
“It’s not a good idea to overturn what the citizens and voters supported without giving them a chance to have a say again,” Blum said.
Alkhatib has monitored the success of card rooms in La Center and believes card rooms could bring benefits to the city of Woodland, his business and neighboring businesses.
Taxes on the card rooms in La Center were expected to generate $2.7 million for the city in 2010, according to the city budget. The city’s general fund budget for 2010 is $3.6 million. If card rooms are allowed in Woodland, the city could also experience a revenue boost, Alkhatib said.
Woodland businesses would benefit from increased traffic in the area, and Alkhatib said he plans to add 80 to 100 employees to the restaurant, which currently employs 60 people, if the city repeals the ordinance.
Alkhatib said his restaurant’s visibility and proximity to Interstate 5 will make the Oak Tree a desirable place to stop for passers-by. And Woodland residents wouldn’t have to drive to La Center or Longview, which has one card room, to play cards, he said.
La Center card room officials and Cowlitz Indian Tribe spokesman Phil Harju declined to comment on the issue. The Cowlitz Indian Tribe has plans to build a casino at the I-5 interchange near La Center.
The Woodland council discussion on drafting the new ordinance lasted only 10 minutes. But if citizen comments at Tuesday’s meeting are any indication, card rooms will be hotly debated for many weeks to come.
A few residents said allowing gambling in the city would increase crime, including gang activity, prostitution and drug-related crimes. Citizens expressed concerns about traffic problems at I-5 Exit 21, where the restaurant is located, if card rooms are allowed. And others worried about the moral and ethical impacts on the community.
“I’ve never seen anything good come out of a casino or a commercial gaming unit,” said Finis Johnson, a pastor of a Woodland church.
La Center Police Chief Tim Hopkin said the city’s four card rooms have not generated additional organized crime, prostitution, burglaries or other crimes people tend to link to gambling.
“Whenever a city is considering bringing gambling, there is a general interpretation that it brings crime with it,” Hopkin said Wednesday. “In La Center, I haven’t found that to be true.”
Hopkin said the police are occasionally called to the card rooms do deal with alcohol issues, younger gamblers upset about losing money, credit card fraud and people who try to cheat. Investigations are usually easier than most, though, because of surveillance cameras that catch the actions on tape, Hopkin said.
Lynn Ford, pastor at the Church of the Nazarene, said he’s seen gambling destroy families. Allowing card rooms for the economic gain would be a mistake, he said.
“We can’t make a moral decision based on economics,” Ford said.
But Darlene Johnson, treasurer for the Woodland Chamber of Commerce, argued for promoting economic development.
“People should be allowed to make their own decisions,” Johnson said. “You can’t save everybody from themselves.”
While all of the details have yet to be ironed out, Alkhatib said he would keep the card room separate from the dining area of the restaurant. He plans to continue to operate the Oak Tree as a family restaurant. The card rooms would only enhance the sales, Alkhatib said.
“Hopefully, things will even get better,” he said. “But that’s what we have to do to survive in this economy.”
Marissa Harshman: 360-735-4546 or marissa.harshman@columbian.com.
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