CARLSBAD — City Council delayed acting on a local entrepreneur’s application to open a sports bar in Carlsbad that would allow patrons to bet on horse races at its April 30 meeting.
The unnamed applicant applied for a business license to open Silky Sullivan’s Race and Sports Bar in the Carlsbad Research Center, located off of Faraday Avenue.
The application proposed that the restaurant would include a separate room with mini-satellite wagering that would allow horse race betting.
Though the initial application was denied because the city planner determined that mini-satellite wagering was not allowed in the Research Center, the applicant has asked the city where mini-satellite wagering would be permitted.
While mini-satellite gambling is not specifically prohibited within Carlsbad, the city’s Municipal Code does outlaw cardrooms and prohibits bingo unless it is run by a nonprofit organization.
In his presentation before City Council, City Planner Don Neu expressed concern that a gambling facility within Carlsbad would clash with proposed General Plan Update goals to promote a small-town, family oriented feel.
“We just felt there was the potential to conflict with some of those (community) values,” he said.
City Council has prohibited gambling in the past out of concerns that betting facilities would require greater law enforcement supervision, according city statements.
At Tuesday’s meeting, City Council passed an urgency ordinance that delays any action on the application for 45 days so that the Planning Department can further study how the upcoming General Plan Update would apply to mini-satellite wagering.
Representatives for the application did not attend the City Council meeting.
The California Horse Racing Board authorized mini-satellite wagering in the state in 2007.
Aside from the vote on the mini-satellite wagering application, San Diego Water Authority and Poseidon Resources representatives provided an update on construction of the pipeline for Carlsbad’s desalination plant.
Peter MacLaggan, Senior Vice President of Project Development for Poseidon Resources, told City Council that construction of the pipeline is estimated to last until December 2014.
He said that construction in Carlsbad is tentatively scheduled to begin this month, starting at Cannon Road and later continuing along Faraday Avenue this summer.
At the meeting, City Council also authorized the city to operate Alga Norte Community Park and Aquatic Center, which is expected to open at the end of this year.
