(WBBM NEWSRADIO) —Village trustees in Arlington Heights want to make sure horse-racing remains an option for Arlington International Racecourse, after the current owners sell the property.
The village board unanimously approved an ordinance that prevents the track's current owner, Churchill Downs, from banning horse-racing as a condition of the sale.
“It’s kind of like the grocery store that gets abandoned by its grocer,” Trustee Robin LaBedz said. “And yet they put a restriction that the space can’t be filled with any other grocery store. We want to make sure that when this property is sold that there is still a possibility of horse-racing here.
The trustees also voted to prevent Churchill Downs from protecting its Rivers Casino in Des Plaines by banning any future owner of the track from opening a casino there.
The village board also approved a resolution barring certain types of businesses at the property. These would include distribution centres and stores that sell pornographic material.