Gambling is moving out of East Peoria hotels.
A change to the city's ordinance on video gaming machines now prohibits video gaming in hotels and motel lobbies.
Commissioner Mark Hill proposed the update to liquor control regulations in East Peoria, which unanimously passed without discussion during Tuesday’s city council meeting.
“We think that in this case that it's to the betterment of the city to not allow the gaming machines in the hotel, motel,” Hill said.
The move comes months after the Illinois Gaming Board approved Boyd Gaming's plans to redevelop the Par-A-Dice Casino at its existing East Peoria location after Peoria’s attempt to lure the gambling operation across the river.
The language of the ordinance update says “the city council has determined that licensed establishments under the city’s liquor control regulations operating as motels or hotels that seek to offer video gaming are disfavored and detrimental to the city’s business environment and to the public good of the citizens of East Peoria.”
While Hill did not mention Par-A-Dice by name, he said, “there are ample opportunities throughout our city that allow anybody that wants to do that somewhere else.”
The ordinance leaves 10 days for gaming machine owners to remove them from hotel and motel lobbies.
The council also unanimously approved:
- Payments for water main replacement along Arnold Road
- Renewal of a contract with Tyler Technologies Inc. as the city's core software system
- The addition of 10 Flock Safety license plate readers to the East Peoria Police Department
- Sale of two aging emergency vehicles, including an 2004 Freightliner ambulance and a 1996 Pierce fire engine
Commissioner Seth Mingus offered a proposal to amend an intergovernmental agreement with Illinois Central College for law enforcement services. Police Chief David Catton said the change covers a campus expansion that now extends to include the new Woodside Commons residential complex.
That resolution will be brought forward for a second reading at next month's meeting.
