Video gambling at gas stations: McHenry OKs gaming at Thorntons but wary of other fueling station requests

The Thorntons in McHenry is officially the first truck stop in the community to receive a video gambling license from the McHenry City Council, and the machines are up and running now.

Opened in November 2021, the gas station at 2108 W. Illinois Route 120 checks every box, according to Illinois law, to receive a video gambling license, Assistant City Clerk Monte Johnson said: It sits on at least 3 acres; has a convenience store; is owned, leased or operated by the applicant; has diesel islands separate from the auto fueling island; sells at least 10,000 gallons of diesel fuel a month; and has parking for commercial motor vehicles.

Some of those features are what defines the Thorntons as a truck stop, differentiating it from smaller gas stations that would not qualify for a video gambling license in the city. That’s an important distinction to some community leaders.

On March 4, the City Council approved the gaming terminal request, with 1st Ward Alderman Victor Santi and 4th Ward Alderwoman Chris Bassi dissenting. But the council also made sure that other fueling stations know it is not open to approving a gaming license for them, too.

Second Ward Alderman Andy Glab said he was “worried about the fact we would open all of the gas stations to video gaming” if the truck stop was approved, but he voted to approve the Thorntons request.

In fact, the Shell station across the road from the Thorntons, at 2022 IL Route 120 in unincorporated McHenry County, has a video gaming license. That Shell station has a “pour” license from McHenry County, said Adam Wallen, the county’s director of planning and development. A pour license means the location can “pour” alcohol on-site, instead of offering only packaged liquor. “In order to have video gaming, you have to have a pour license,” Wallen told the Northwest Herald.

Once an establishment has the pour license, Wallen said, “there is a domino effect of regulations” that gas stations also have to comply with to get that video gaming license. Those regulations include serving food, having appropriate bathrooms, seating and a visual “line of sight” to the gambling area, among other rules.

While the county did push back on the idea of giving a gas station a liquor license, there is nothing in the state code to prevent it, Wallen said. “Gas stations do not fall under the truck stop [rules] but are eligible to have gaming” through the Illinois Video Gaming Act.

McHenry has taken a firmer stance on what businesses may have a gaming license. “Filed applications for video gaming establishments shall be submitted to the City Council for approval or denial. The City Council may issue or deny the application, within its sole discretion,” according to McHenry’s code.

“We have an ordinance that says you have to get a local gaming license and our approval first before you go to the state” with a request for a gaming license, Johnson said.

In December, the council added language to its gaming ordinance to prevent “gaming cafes” from receiving a license from the city. The new ordinance prohibits new licenses for “an establishment whose primary or a major focus ... is video gaming and the service of alcohol; food is secondary to the operation of video gaming.”

As the Local Liquor Control Commissioner, McHenry Mayor Wayne Jett, decides what constitutes a gaming cafe under that law.

Seventh Ward Alderwoman Sue Miller said she was less worried about giving Thorntons a gaming license “as much as the heartburn moving forward” if other gas stations apply, “but our ordinance would prohibit them” if they do not fulfill the truck stop guidelines.

Johnson said he often gets calls from gas stations looking for a video gaming license, and from liquor and grocery stores too. The city approved a truck stop last summer, set for Route 120 and Ringwood Road, that likely would fall into the state’s truck stop guidelines for video gambling, said Ross Polerecky, director of community development. Construction has not started there and a gaming license has not yet been requested.

And on April 1, the council heard preliminary plans for a proposal to put in a truck stop on the northwest corner of Route 31 and Bull Valley Road that also would fall into the truck stop category.