OTB Seeks New Home at Village Grill

Off-track betting is in the early stages of relocating within Buffalo Grove, after village officials reviewed a proposal Monday for the facility to move from to the .

Hawthorne Race Course is seeking permission to move OTB to the banquet room at the south end of Village Bar & Grill, where it would have a separate entrance from the main dining room. The move would require Hawthorne to enter a lease with the Village of Buffalo Grove, which owns the property.

Village officials voted 5-1 Monday, with Trustee Beverly Sussman dissenting, to send the proposal to the Plan Commission for review.

Beginning next week, Plan Commissioners will examine issues such as parking — overflow space would likely be required on big race days — the impact OTB might have on the restaurant and adjacent , and how signs would promote the location on Buffalo Grove’s municipal campus.

While Trustee Jeff Berman said he wants answers to such “practical concerns,” he does not believe OTB has negatively impacted the village since opening in 2009.

“I think our experience, if anything, has confirmed that this isn’t a nuisance or anything to be feared,” he said.

Financial impact

Buffalo Grove would receive 10 percent commission from wagering or a minimum of $60,000 annually, according to the proposal. The village would also continue to receive the 1 percent state tax, which Hawthorne Race Course Chief Financial Officer Jeff Kras estimated at $80,000 per year.

In all, Buffalo Grove could collect $250,000 annually from wagering, taxes and rent, Kras wrote in a letter to the village.

Currently, the village’s off-track betting revenue comes solely from the 1 percent tax. Deputy Village Manager Ghida Neukirch said the village collected about $80,000 in 2009 and 2010, and around $60,000 in 2011.

Kras attributed the decline to a drop in business after Adam’s Roadhouse closed its restaurant last summer. While OTB continues, the facility now offers limited food and serves no alcohol. Hawthorne has been on a month-to-month lease with the property owner since August.

“We lost at least one-third of our clientele. But we’ll get them back,” Kras said.

Kras predicted that OTB customers generated by the golf course could make the operation “even more of a success than we saw in 2009.”

OTB is also expected to drive additional food and beverage sales for Tap Room Hospitality, which operates Village Bar & Grill, and could benefit the adjacent Buffalo Grove Golf Course, according to a village document outlining the plan.

Other considerations

If OTB takes over the restaurant’s banquet hall, large parties would be offered use of the dining room or outdoor patio, according to the document.

Aside from serving parties that have already reserved the banquet room, Village Manager Dane Bragg said accommodating large groups for meals or during inclement weather could be the main challenge that would result from eliminating the restaurant’s banquet room.

“I think we can accommodate it. Do we have a strategy worked out? Not yet,” he said.

Finding the right location for an OTB facility can be difficult, said Kras, who noted that betting cannot take place within 500 feet of a church or school or within five miles of a racetrack.

With the assistance of village staff, Kras said his team examined other Buffalo Grove locations, including and Wooil, before tailoring its proposal for Village Bar & Grill. He said he hasn’t ruled out expanding OTB to other nearby towns, as well.

“I do believe we could be supporting more than one venue,” he said.

Buffalo Grove Police Chief Steve Balinski said has received 46 calls for police response at the OTB facility since 2009. Of those calls, 33 were for services regarding active alarms or lockouts, he said. Other calls included reports of battery, theft and burglary to a vehicle, he said.

“There is no significant public safety concern,” regarding OTB in the village, he said.

Off-track betting came to Buffalo Grove in mid-2009 amid some vocal opposition. At the time, Sussman and Lisa Stone were the only trustees to reject the operation.

“From the very beginning, I just didn’t want anything in the Village of Buffalo Grove,” Sussman said Monday, after asking the village’s attorney whether it's legal to allow gambling on village-owned property.

“My answer right now would be, ‘I think so,’” responded attorney Bill Raysa, who said he had not researched the matter.

After Monday’s meeting, Sussman declined to comment further on the relocation proposal until it is reviewed by the Plan Commission.

Plan Commissioners are scheduled to gather Feb. 15 for a workshop, with a public hearing on the OTB proposal tentatively set for March 7. The Village Board could vote on the proposal March 19.

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