10-point civic vision

Titled "Casino Site Plan Review," the report scores designs for the two casinos—SugarHouse and Foxwoods Philadelphia—on 84 compatibility questions tied to the 10-point action plan, which had addressed zoning, transit and public access. For each question, the site plans are rated as either compliant with the action plan, non-compliant but "fixable" or non-compliant and "not fixable."

Both the Foxwoods and SugarHouse plans are scored as non-compliant but fixable on most of the questions. For example, the current site plans do not call for ecologically sound design techniques such as vegetated swales and pervious pavements, although the report notes that there are "opportunities" to install these. On some questions, the ratings overlap between two columns, with footnotes explaining that the plans address some but not all of the compliance requirements.

The report, which PennPraxis prepared in consultation with a team of urban planning experts, also offers specific recommendations on how the site plans could be made more compatible with the civic vision for the waterfront. The wide, rectangular buildings currently planned could be divided into narrower, taller structures, for example. Additionally, the amount of parking could be reduced and greater emphasis could be placed on mass transit and pedestrian traffic, and streets and green space could be extended through the casino parcels.