The Oswego Village Board recently approved liquor and video gambling licenses for two existing Speedway gas stations in the village.
The owners applied for two of the remaining four available gas station video gambling licenses for their locations at 1830 Route 30 and 4032 Route 34 prior to a move to impose limits on video gambling in town.
The board approved the licenses on March 18.
Trustees decided Feb. 5 to cap gas station video gambling licenses at 11. The village had seven gas stations with video gambling on the premises, and now will have two more with the approval for the Speedway sites.
Speedway submitted the applications for the licenses in May and June of last year prior to the village’s new limits on video gambling.
As part of the process, Speedway requested Class B-2 liquor licenses for its two gas stations. Both locations currently hold a Class F-1 liquor license for the purpose of off-premises consumption, village officials said. The Class B-2 liquor classification allows for the sale of alcoholic beverages for off-premise consumption and the sale of beer and wine only for consumption on site, to be used at the gas stations as part of their video gambling operation.
Speedway intends to have five video gambling machines at its 4032 Route 34 location and six gambling machines at its 1830 Route 30 site, officials said.
The village will require the designated video gambling area at the gas stations to have a permanent barrier with an entrance restricted to those who are 21 years old or older. In addition, Speedway will be required to construct a gambling room with a secured door that requires a buzzer entry from the counter. A chime will get activated when the door is open and closed, village officials said.
Trustee Karin McCarthy-Lange reiterated her thoughts on the gambling issue during the review process, as she did during her election campaign.
“I am really not for gaming,” she said.
“I am glad that you got grandfathered in before we restricted it,” she said of the Speedway licenses. “I am really not in favor of it at gas stations especially, but it was a compromise we made so we could wrangle in the number of licenses we have out there.”
Speedway representatives told trustees that video gambling attracts new customers and helps with in-store sales.
Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.