PEORIA — A Cook County judge will not hear Peoria’s case for a restraining order against the Illinois Gaming Board until next week, setting up a pivotal Thursday morning vote on Boyd Gaming’s contested plans to build a new casino in East Peoria.

The impending vote by the gaming board comes just days after the Peoria City Council voted to reject a settlement offer from Boyd and moved to sue the board, Boyd Gaming and the city of East Peoria. The suit contends Boyd Gaming’s plan to build a 29,000-square-foot casino violates state law and a 1991 intergovernmental agreement.

Peoria’s lawsuit sought a temporary restraining order against the Illinois Gaming Board, in hopes of preventing it from voting on Boyd’s plan — a proposal the city of Peoria believes the gaming board will approve.

The Peoria City Council split 5-5 on Monday night in rejecting Boyd’s settlement offer, which would have paid the city an estimated $1.8 million annually. Instead, the city has opted to pursue litigation, putting pressure on Boyd and the gaming board.

Peoria Mayor Rita Ali voted to approve the settlement and was not shy in voicing her disappointment in Monday’s outcome. However, now that the lawsuit is a reality, she told the Journal Star on Wednesday that he hopes the “doors remain open” for a potential settlement.

“As you know, I think this was a missed opportunity for the city to resolve our issues and move forward because I honestly don’t believe the end result of our court battle will result in a land-based casino in Peoria, Boyd’s land-based casino in Peoria,” Ali said. “So, we’ll continue to fight.”

For those on the council like Ali who voted yes on the settlement, the filing of the lawsuit put them in an interesting position of needing to maintain support for the city and its path forward while not necessarily agreeing with the path taken.

“I want to remain optimistic in this situation. I believe it’s going to be a long battle, but what I am looking for is a positive end result,” Ali said. “I don’t want to fight just to fight. I don’t believe that there is any rationale in doing so. I want to fight this so there is a good result and I am hesitant to believe that result is a land-based casino in Peoria.”

Ali and the four other councilmembers who voted to approve the settlement agree with the five members who voted against it that the casino Boyd Gaming aims to construct in the parking lot of the current Par-A-Dice property is not a riverboat. In fact, there are likely few people who would look at Boyd Gaming’s landlocked 29,000 square foot building constructed on land and mistake for a boat.

Regardless, Boyd Gaming is seeking approval from the Illinois Gaming Board to qualify that building as a boat because it will build a basin of water underneath the casino floor. By that logic, because the building sits on top of water, it is a boat.

In its lawsuit, Peoria called this contention by Boyd Gaming “ludicrous” and referred to the basin of water plan as a “gimmick.”

Boyd’s reasoning behind referring to this building as a boat rests in its desire to keep its casino operation in East Peoria. Boyd, as members of the Peoria City Council stated Monday night, has zero desire to move to Peoria.

However, the 1991 intergovernmental agreement signed by East Peoria and Peoria, which was then codified by state statute in 2019, dictates that any land-based gaming in the area must be on Peoria’s side of the Illinois River and any riverboat gaming operation must be docked in East Peoria. Boyd’s water basin gambit is a shot at using an “end-around,” as Peoria calls it in its lawsuit, of both the agreement and the law.

Those who voted against the settlement believe Peoria can and will prevail in court and/or the lawsuit will drive Boyd Gaming, a publicly traded company, back to the negotiating table.

“My position was pretty clear on Tuesday that there is a 1991 agreement, IGA, and a 2019 state law that codified that, those need to be taken seriously and the fact that the gaming commission in the past has been very generous in the definition of a riverboat doesn’t mean we have to accept that,” Peoria City Councilman Tim Riggenbach told the Journal Star.

Riggenbach believes Peoria can and should target a development like Rockford has seen with the Hard Rock Casino, a nearly $400 million development that dwarfs in comparison the $160 million plans Boyd unveiled for East Peoria.

“Respectfully, why can’t we have that?” Riggenbach said. “… I think we’re selling ourselves short here.”

The timing of the lawsuit filed by Peoria, which came just two days before the gaming board was set to meet, was “unfortunate,” City Councilman Alex Carmona said.

Carmona, one of those who also voted against the settlement, believes a different, and better, settlement is in play.

“I believe, and I’ll speak for myself, we’re still willing to work with them and figure out a way not to, even though of course we’re the one now litigating and pushing this forward, to come to a better agreement without making this drawn out and pushing them back on what they’re trying to do, either,” Carmona said.

Carmona said he is cautiously optimistic that Boyd will want to reach a new settlement agreement.

“It’s just best for all parties to not want to drag this out, so I am hopeful I guess that we can come together and come to better terms,” Carmona said.

Peoria City Attorney Patrick Hayes told the council on Monday night that the cost of litigation could come in around $1 million and, with the lawsuit likely ending up in the Illinois Supreme Court, it could take up to two years.

For councilmembers who voted yes on the settlement such as Andre Allen, hopes for the lawsuit rest on whatever the best possible outcome is for Peoria.

“Something that we will be able to look back and demonstrate a win for our constituents and that’s what I want, that’s what this council wants is a win for our city and something we can look back on,” Allen said. “This is a legacy decision, so something we will be able to look back and say we did our best to take advantage of this unique opportunity and be able to have something to show for it.”

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: What lies ahead for Peoria as gaming board prepares to vote on casino?

Reporting by JJ Bullock, Peoria Journal Star / Journal Star

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