Shortly after its incorporation in 1998, the city passed a moratorium on cardrooms and other gambling establishments; at the time, Kenmore had a single cardroom, which was later grandfathered into an expanded ban in 2003. After the ban was struck down and reinstated, the issue was decided in a public referendum in September 2004 that did not pass a ban on cardrooms, but the city council kept its ban in place. The moratorium was overturned by the King County Superior Court following a lawsuit from the cardroom's owner, but a new ban was passed in 2005 and appealed to the federal Ninth Circuit, where the ban was upheld. Following negotiations between the city, the state gambling commission, and the owner, the cardroom closed in 2009.