Revere pols prep for potential clash of 1 a.m. last call at bars vs. all hours service at resorts

REVERE-Local legislators are pushing to bring casino gambling to the city, but how will the presence of a round-the-clock liquor service operation square with the proposed 1 a.m. ban on alcohol sales??I can?t imagine if they have a casino it won?t be a 24-hour, seven days a week operation. How is that going to fly?” asked Police Chief Terence Reardon.State Rep. Robert DeLeo agreed and said a legal challenge to the rollback might be framed around the argument that “casinos shouldn?t be able to do it if Joe?s Bar can?t.”?I?m not sure if that would be allowable,” he said, adding he has already been contacted by local restaurant owners worried about the specter of a resort-style casino at Suffolk Downs taking business away from them.Reardon favors rolling back the alcohol serving time an hour to 1 a.m. and plans to present police statistics at the License Commission?s Jan. 10 hearing on the roll back. The public hearing will be held at 5:30 p.m. in the City Council Chamber and commission members hope local residents and bar and club owners attend.The commission meets again on Jan. 17 but Commission Chairman Michael Pepe earlier this month said the rollback?s approval is “not a foregone conclusion.”?We?ll have more hearings if we need; for instance, if questions arise we didn?t think of,” he said.City officials are a long way from weighing liquor service at casinos against a 1 a.m. closing time.?I don?t even see a tracks bill being on the radar screen until February or March,” DeLeo said Tuesday after meeting with other top legislative leaders and Gov. Deval Patrick. The group discussed Patrick?s economic stimulus proposal oriented around “life sciences” technology.Patrick?s proposal to locate resort-style casinos around the state sparked interest with local racetrack operators when he unveiled it in September. Owners of Wonderland Greyhound Park in Revere and Suffolk, located on the Boston-Revere line, envision casino table games and slot machines breathing new life into the racetracks. Wonderland employs 350, including many Revere residents.?If Suffolk is not chosen as a site, my feeling is that will be a death knell for the tracks. I will have a major problem with that. Any piece of legislation that comes out has to have a track component,” DeLeo said.The Revere City Council and Planning Board took initial steps in March to allow casinos to locate at Suffolk Downs or Wonderland. Under the local proposals, the council would issue a special permit for casinos on the track sites.