After seeking a two-year extension from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board to set up shop on the waterfront, Foxwoods, which is required to have at least 1,500 slot machines operating by May 29, 2011, filed a motion seeking a three-month extension to submit its plans to the board.

When the two last met Aug. 28 to extend the license to build the casino, the board asked that Foxwoods present a written plan by Oct. 16; submit all construction drawings and a timeline for all phases of the facility by Dec. 1; finalize all financing by March 1; and update the board with monthly progress reports, according to board, which announced nine conditions in all during the summer.

“To date, Foxwoods has only submitted a letter saying they still have no plans, permits, or financing — but that they want more time to build a temporary facility,” 1st District State Sen. Larry Farnese, whose district the Delaware riverfront casino is in, said. “Foxwoods keeps showing up for class and claiming the dog ate my homework. They’ve done nothing except hire increasingly expensive lawyers.”

The motion filed Nov. 30 sets to extend the two conditions with Dec. 1 deadline as the remaining have been or are expected to be completed on time. The architectural renderings and timeline have not been completed and are awaiting a lock-in of “the most critical hurdle” — the financers — whose pending commitment will dictate the plans, according to the motion filed by Foxwoods’ lawyers. Pending legislation allowing table games stalled the plans, as well, and could alter the design and possible investor contributions, according to the motion.

Foxwoods has reached out to 15 potential investors that are “unable to make a final commitment without having an understanding as to what the final form of the proposed legislations will be,” the motion stated.

The Senate bill allowing table games passed 29-20 in the Senate Oct. 9. The last action in the House was Oct. 14, when it was referred to the Gaming Oversight Committee.

Area politicians, including Farnese and state Reps. Babette Josephs and Michael O’Brien, are opposed to the extension.

“If there was ever a case of putting the cart before the horse, this is it,” O’Brien, who serves on the oversight committee, said. “The intent of the slots gaming law was to provide wage tax relief to Philadelphians and property tax relief to homeowners, to save the state’s horse racing industry and to boost economic development, not to protect the failed proposal of a gaming applicant. Foxwoods was granted a license to operate slots, not table games, and it should not be rewarded for failing to comply with the law.”

The board gave one of two city licenses to Foxwoods three years ago with the other going to SugarHouse, which is set to open an interim casino next year. After almost a year of neighborhood resistance, Gov. Ed Rendell and Mayor Michael Nutter urged Foxwoods to consider a location at Eighth and Market streets in September ’08. Foxwoods agreed and, Aug. 28, asked the board to extend its license that expired in May and approve the move. The board unanimously approved the former, but only if the slots stayed in the originally approved Columbus Boulevard and Reed Street site. Now Foxwoods hopes to push back submitting plans for that location until March 1 to coincide with the funding deadline.

“This most recent action by Foxwoods is only the latest in a disturbing trend of self-entitlement,” Josephs said. “The casino investors think they can do what they want, when they want, where they want, all at the expense of the state and surrounding neighborhoods. Foxwoods should have to follow the rules like everyone else.”