Village OKs Video Gambling Rules

Romeoville will allow businesses to install up to five video gambling machines, but only if they get village board approval for a special-use permit first.

The board this week altered village ordinances to clarify the definition of video gambling and to insert a mechanism that allows trustees to reject applications for locations they deem inappropriate, a Joliet Herald News story said.

Under state law, the machines are authorized for bars, restaurants, truck stops and fraternal organizations. The Romeoville ordinance allows the village to be even more selective.

“Folks are probably never going to see this at a Chili’s or an Applebee’s,” Mayor John Noak said, according to the story.

While many towns have rejected allowing video gambling at all, Romeoville has agreed to it because the tax money collected will help fund capital improvement and transportation projects in Illinois, Noak said.

Several area communities have approved video gambling as well, and machines have already been set up in Joliet.