Austintown continues to mull over future regulations for Queen of Hearts drawings

By ROBERT CONNELLY

rconnelly@vindy.com

AUSTINTOWN

Township officials are looking at strengthening zoning laws as a way to regulate Queen of Hearts drawings and their effect on public safety.

“We have been in talks with our zoning inspector [Darren Crivelli], and I know he’s working on some things for us in regard to mass gatherings,” said Trustee Jim Davis. “I know there was some concern by the residents in those neighborhoods and around that area, so we’re going to be looking at ways to address that before something like that happens again.”

Davis spoke about the game at Monday night’s trustees meeting.

As the Queen of Hearts jackpot grew at Barry Dyngles, 1601 S. Raccoon Road, public safety became a larger concern, with more off-duty officers hired by the pub and Raccoon Road being shut down for a time before and after drawings.

Davis congratulated Molly Blair of Warren, the winner of the $1.8 million jackpot on Oct. 4, and the pub on the raffle game that brought attention back to the Raccoon Road business corridor.

The township’s main attraction had shifted to the state Route 46 corridor after Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course opened in September 2014.

“Unfortunately, some of those businesses got [forgotten] about down there, and I was glad to see some of the attention brought back down there,” he said.

There are other Queen of Hearts drawings in Austintown, but none has attracted the attention – and jackpot prize – to the magnitude of the recent Barry Dyngles game.

In other business:

Trustees unanimously approved a $200,000 transfer from the general fund to the police district fund. That is the first of a total of $700,000 to transfer from the general fund to that fund and was “business as usual,” said Laurie Wolfe, township fiscal officer.

Bob Williams, assistant fire chief, said it is fire safety month and reminded residents to check the batteries in the smoke detectors in their homes.

Crivelli said the zoning office issued 22 permits in September, highlighted by a permit for the Home 2 Suites by Hilton, 5580 Interstate Blvd., which netted the township $30,000. He said he hopes that money is used for home demolition in the township as officials continue to focus on blight removal.

Trustee Ken Carano reminded residents to pay attention to their voter cards that were mailed out recently by the Mahoning County Board of Elections due to precinct and poll location changes.