Napa Card Room Approved To Expand Tables

NAPA, CA — The Napa City Council last week agreed to allow a local card room to expand its number of gaming tables.

Mayor Scott Sedgley recused himself from the vote on the item brought forward by applicant Polvora Inc., doing business as Ace & Vine.

"I did receive a contribution in excess of $250 for an event I held in October from Polvora," Sedgley explained before seeking a motion from the council.

In previous years, the 12-table Ace & Vine card room, located at 505 Lincoln Ave., had operated with nine of its tables and left three unused due to municipal code that only permitted the business to utilize up to nine at one time.

The City Council's April 16 decision to let the business use 11 tables followed a March 7 Planning Commission's unanimous vote to recommend the code amendment and permit change that would allow the expansion.

During the Planning Commission meeting, senior planner Michael Allen explained that the applicant had previously gained council approval to operate with nine tables in 2020 before Assembly Bill 341 was signed into law. AB 341 allowed card rooms operating with fewer than 20 tables to increase the amount by two tables.

That 2020 action reintroduced card room business into the commercial district area of Napa after Hemphill's Lounge and Cardroom, which opened in the 1970s, shuttered its doors in 2005 when owner William Long died.

A year later, his son Timothy Long applied to have Hemphill's state gambling licenses transferred to him -- a request that wasn't granted until 2014. Long subsequently transferred a license to Polvora for the Lincoln Avenue location.

At the Planning Commission meeting, Allen explained that Ace & Vine already had 12 tables because in 2020 Polvora had requested more than would be allowed per the city code. Though the City Council at the time had been hesitant to approve, Allen said his research into the U.S. Department of Justice found that most card rooms have more tables than are allowed to operate at one time to create a smoother transition between games.

"DOJ actually has cameras at every table that they monitor, so there's a protection that the city doesn't enforce, but the Department of Justice does, Gaming Control does, and most card rooms don't want to lose their state license so they comply," he said. "So there hasn't been a problem."

AB 341 also allows small card rooms to add up to two additional tables every subsequent four years not to exceed 10 additional tables. Attorney Jeff Dodd, representing the Polvora team, and owner Michael Leblanc explained to the commission that the card room at this time would not accommodate more than the 12 already on-site due to space and requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Story by Aly Brown, Bay City News.

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