Aldermen advanced a plan Monday to let businesses more quickly secure conditional permit approval from city regulators for video gambling terminals, the latest engagement in the fight over the controversial machines.
For the gambling terminals legalized in December, the decision marks a critical step toward their arrival by the hundreds in bars, restaurants and other establishments across Chicago neighborhoods.
By speeding up the city’s permitting process, aldermen hope to jump-start operations delayed by the state’s slow-moving approval system — and allow the city to start earning fees and tax revenue.
“We know the state is going to take a decent amount of time, but at least we can have the approvals here,” Ald. Bennett Lawson, 44th, told his colleagues on the City Council’s License and Consumer Protection Committee.
