Crowded Hearing and New Wrinkle: Developer to Bid on Tracks

For weeks, Anne Arundel County residents and leaders have grappled with the controversial proposal to build a slots gambling parlor near the Arundel Mills megamall. Then, yesterday, just as the County Council was preparing for a crowded public hearing on the matter, word spread that the developer behind the Arundel Mills plan was bidding to buy several horse racing businesses.

Baltimore developer David Cordish said his bid to purchase the Laurel Park racetrack, Pimlico Race Course and the Preakness Stakes is separate from his proposal to bring slots to Arundel Mills Mall. But last night, many who oppose slots at the mall suggested Cordish install the new slot machines at the Laurel racetrack, where gambling already exists, instead of Arundel Mills.

"I'd still vote against it, but it's a better alternative than bringing gambling to a family mall," said council member Joshua Cohen (D-Annapolis), an opponent of slots.

The Cordish Cos. opposed such suggestions. "Our interest is in the racetracks in Laurel and Pimlico themselves," said Joseph Weinberg, the Cordish Cos.' president of gaming and resorts. "We have no interest in any relocation of gaming interests from Arundel Mills to Laurel."

Underlying last night's hearing was a sense of anger among many residents, who said they felt deceived by the slots referendum. Cordish's Arundel Mills plan emerged only in recent months, after the results of a November referendum made slot machine gambling legal.

For years, one of the most discussed locations was the Laurel racetrack. But the Laurel Park bid was rejected in February when its owner, Magna Entertainment, failed to pay an initial licensing fee. The mall then emerged as the largest and most potentially lucrative proposal received by the state.

Several Arundel Mills business people and employees testified in favor of the project. Many residents expressed fears that a slots parlor near the mall would bring more crime and traffic and would lower property values -- worries that Cordish representatives tried to allay with crime studies from casinos elsewhere and with traffic plans.

Some information emerged from Cordish's presentation last night, including: estimates that the project would create 2,500 temporary construction jobs and 1,500 permanent jobs; projections that if its plans are approved on schedule, revenue would start trickling in at the end of 2010; and expectations that nearly all of the parlor's business would come from within a 150-mile radius of the mall.

The controversy has divided the County Council on a zoning bill that is crucial for any slots parlor to be allowed in the county. Three council members support the proposal; two are opposed; and two are undecided. The council is scheduled to vote Monday.

According to the slots legislation, part of the new gambling revenue will go to education and state and county governments. Another portion, about 9.5 percent, will go to the horse-racing industry and to track improvements.

Cordish did not offer details about his decision to try to buy the racetracks put up for sale by the bankrupt Magna company. But he said in an e-mail, "If we own the tracks we will be sending this subsidy to ourselves. We would continue to operate the tracks as racetracks and to develop the extra land around the tracks for mixed use."