Chickie’s & Pete’s wants a sports betting venue at its South Philly location. These residents are trying to stop it.

A Common Pleas Court judge has ruled that Parx Casino should be allowed to move its City Turf Club sports-betting operation into a South Philadelphia Chickie’s & Pete’s, which neighbors said has always been a family-friendly restaurant for birthday parties and bar mitzvah celebrations.

Now the neighbors, led by the Packer Park Civic Association, have filed an appeal of Judge Joshua Roberts’ July 1 order, sending the case back to the Zoning Board of Adjustment.

The judge said the ZBA “abused its discretion and committed fundamental errors of law” when it earlier denied a special exception to allow the gambling as an entertainment use at the restaurant.

“The Turf Club is only seeking to move the gambling facility a total of 8 blocks,” from its current location at 700 Packer Ave. to the Chickie’s & Pete’s at 1526 Packer Ave., Roberts said in his ruling.

The civic association filed its appeal to Commonwealth Court on July 1, the same day Roberts issued his ruling.

Barbara Capozzi, president of Packer Park Civic, disagreed with the judge’s assessment that gambling was already available in the neighborhood.

“Anybody that lives in the city knows that eight blocks can make a world of difference,” she said.

The current City Turf Club, at 700 Packer, is across Broad Street, on the east side of Broad, in an industrial-type neighborhood and close to the new Live! Casino. She said moving the Turf Club to Chickie’s & Pete’s, across Broad Street — which is several lanes wide — to the west side would put a gambling business in a neighborhood shopping center, very close to people’s houses.

Anybody that lives in the city knows that eight blocks can make a world of difference.

“It’s harder and harder to maintain order in communities,” Capozzi said. “And our community is adamant. They do not want this on our side.”

» Packer Park neighbors are fighting Parx and Chickie’s & Pete’s over plan to relocate the Turf Club

Roberts said in his order that gambling was already in the area, referring to the existing Turf Club, and added that he didn’t see how having a sports-betting venue inside a restaurant would harm children, because gambling is already pervasive in society:

“[T]he objector’s repeated assertions that relocating the gambling facility 8 blocks could corrupt children is pure speculation. ... Common sense and general observation confirms that gambling is pervasive in modern society. There are ads on public transit, billboards on the highway, commercials on television and the internet, and numerous sports teams are sponsored by and/or collaborate with gambling companies.”

Theresa Franchetti, 60, lives in the house where she grew up, near 18th and Packer. “I have two sisters living around the corner and a bunch of aunts and cousins nearby. The kids who grew up here bought homes here. We’re a pretty tight-knit group. We’re a village,” she said of the neighborhood.

She said she opposes gambling at Chickie’s & Pete’s because she knows firsthand how sports gambling can lead to an addiction, after one of her relatives became addicted. She said the relative didn’t lose their house, but “things got pretty bad.”

She also worried about other impacts.

“It will bring traffic, gambling, and people driving through the neighborhood intoxicated,” she said.

Franchetti pointed out that the parent company of Chickie’s & Pete’s, owned by Peter Ciarrocchi, was recently fined $20,000 for serving alcohol to already-intoxicated patrons at its restaurant located inside the Parx Casino in Bensalem.

The Inquirer reported that the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board fined the company, licensed as CPC Bucks County LLC, on June 15.

» Pa. fines Chickie’s & Pete’s for serving intoxicated patrons at Parx Casino location

Ciarrocchi owns 16 Chickie’s & Pete’s in the country.

In February 2021, Ciarrocchi attended a Zoom meeting that included neighborhood residents and officials, and lawyers for Parx Casino. He said then that his South Philadelphia restaurant business had been hurting from the pandemic, and from newer competition from Xfinity Live!, and the Live! Casino.

“I just need the shot in the arm,” Ciarrocchi said at that meeting.

On Thursday, asked about how soon Parx plans to start its Turf Club at his Packer Park location, Ciarrocchi said: “I’m just the landlord. That will be up to the casino. I’m just trying to rent some space.”

“All I do is operate Chickie’s & Pete’s and operate it well,” Ciarrocchi said. “We do a nice job and we are part of the community.” The restaurant in Packer Park has been at that location for about 18 years.

He added that he had no comment on the fine imposed last month for serving alcohol to intoxicated patrons in Bensalem.

Jared N. Klein, a lawyer for Parx, did not respond to several requests for comment on Thursday.

Capozzi said the neighbors will continue to fight the decision.

“The reason Pete moved his flagship shop here is because our community was safe, clean, welcoming, and pleasant,” Capozzi said.

“Now that he has settled in, taken advantage of our good natures for these many years, he cares NOT about destroying exactly what brought him to us, she added. “That is not fair.”