Colonial Downs, Virginia's only parimutuel horse-racing track, wants to bring an off-track betting parlor to Northern Virginia -- namely to the city of Manassas Park.
Undeterred that voters have rejected off-track betting repeatedly, Colonial Downs will again go to the polls, this time asking voters for permission to install a sports bar-style betting parlor in a shopping center off Route 28, a major commuter highway.
Colonial Downs runs a horse-racing track in New Kent County, near Richmond, and five off-track betting facilities in Virginia. A sixth OTB facility is on the way, and voters will decide whether one will be placed in Manassas Park.
(Jeff Caplan For The Washington Post)
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Manassas Park residents will vote on the plan Nov. 2.
The effort is one of five that Colonial Downs owners are orchestrating across the state. Voters in Greene, Scott, Westmoreland and Henry counties will have similar referendums this fall, said company President Ian Stewart. Colonial Downs runs five off-track betting facilities in Virginia -- with a sixth on the way -- as well as a track in New Kent County, near Richmond.
For more than a decade, the state's horse-racing industry has tried unsuccessfully to gain a foothold in Northern Virginia, the state's wealthiest and most populous region.
Without a local outlet, industry officials say bettors in the area take their business to the Internet or across state lines to West Virginia.
The site proposed by Colonial Downs for a betting parlor is in Manassas Park Shopping Center, at a busy intersection less than two miles from both Fairfax and Prince William counties.
The 20,000-square-foot facility, in the middle of what is a mostly working- and middle-class city of 12,400, would include a restaurant and bar with hundreds of video screens displaying horse races from the Colonial Downs track and other tracks across the country. Customers could wager or just watch the races.
A Prince William County Circuit Court judge ruled this week that gambling proponents had collected enough valid signatures on petitions to place the issue on the ballot.
Manassas Park voters can expect phone calls, direct mailings, newspaper advertising and door-to-door visits, said Randy Gilliland, a business consultant hired to help run the campaign, which is underway.
Beth Roland, the city's assistant voter registrar, said she expects high voter turnout.
"There are a lot of people who want [off-track betting] and a lot of people who don't," she said. "Very few people are teetering in between. Between the referendum and presidential election, we're going to be swamped."
Northern Virginia voters in six jurisdictions have rejected proposals to build off-track betting centers since 1992. Eight years ago, Manassas Park voters spurned a similar proposal by 74 votes.
The difference? Colonial Downs has an established, successful record with such centers across the state, company officials said. The company has projected that $90 million would be wagered at the parlor annually, which would provide $558,000 in tax revenue for the city annually.
