Rollback may hinder casino bid

REVERE-Ward 4 City Councilor George Rotondo wants to know how casino owners eying Revere as a location would view a proposed 1 a.m. alcohol serving shutoff time.He has asked city Solicitor Paul Capizzi to study the impact of an hour rollback in the closing time on around-the-clock gambling operations.How soon Capizzi will be able to prepare the study is unclear, especially since the License Commission is scheduled to discuss and vote on a 1 a.m. closing time Thursday at 5 p.m. in City Hall.The rollback, if approved, would leave Saugus as one of the few communities near Boston with a 2 a.m. closing time. Lynn rolled back closing times to 1 a.m. at the year?s start after the city Licensing Board approved the new closing time Dec. 19.Bar owners are fighting the Lynn rollback in court and lawyers for a half-dozen Revere bars have vowed to do the same if the commission sets a 1 a.m. closing time.Attorney Charles Balliro told the commission at a Jan. 10 hearing that bars like The Shipwreck, Bill Ash?s and the Esquire, cannot afford losing one of their most lucrative hours for doing business at a time when property taxes are on the rise and state laws have forced bars to spend money on sprinkler systems.About a dozen liquor serving establishments currently stay open until 2 a.m. Police Chief Terence Reardon and Capt. Michael Murphy said clubs and bars that have had their closing times rolled back to 1 a.m. by the commission for license violations have seen dramatic drops in alcohol-related problems.Murphy said police calls to the Lido Entertainment Complex dropped by 80 percent after the former Wonderland Ballroom was ordered to close at 1 a.m. Police were called 20 times to the Lido in 2007.He said 43 percent of the drunk driving incidents police respond to occur between midnight and 4 a.m.City Councilors and local legislators want to see casinos bring new business to Suffolk Downs racetrack and Wonderland Greyhound Park, but they have raised concerns about additional traffic.Gov. Deval Patrick is pushing legislators to approve his plan to build casino resorts around the state and has made gambling revenue a component of his proposed financial assistance package to communities.State Rep. Kathi-Anne Reinstein, a long time proponent of bringing slot machines to racetracks, said the Legislature will debate Patrick?s plan.?Are we going to have a debate on it before or after the state budget,” she asked last week.