Changes Come for Arundel Slots, Preakness Stakes

By George Berkheimer, STAFF WRITER

After months of postponed votes on legislation that would authorize a slots facility at Arundel Mills, the Anne Arundel County Council has called a do-over.
The council withdrew its proposed legislation on May 18, one month before it expired, and submitted a new series of bills that address more than just the authority to build a casino. "We've added several companion bills to address some of the related issues," said Council Chair Ed Reilly (D-Dist. 7).
Chief among the concerns the council hopes to mitigate are negative impacts on surrounding communities. Two new bills make neighborhoods adjoining the proposed facility eligible for grants under the community benefit program and amend the amount of grants that can be awarded by the county executive under the grant-in-aid program.
"It provides an opening of the door for the county executive to direct grant money to communities with problems they can't fix on their own," Reilly said. "It's a funding safety valve."
Another bill would establish a development council for approved slots facilities which would include local business representatives and residents who live near the facility.

Added Details
The new legislation doesn't just authorize slots facilities, but goes beyond that step in calling for one parking space for every two video lottery terminals and one for every 200 square feet of office space.
The bill also prohibits pawnshops and adult bookstores or movie theaters within 1,000 feet of the casino and requires adult entertainment facilities to maintain the same distance from schools, parks, libraries, houses of worship and residential districts.
According to Reilly, previous testimony before the council estimated that roughly 70 county parcels qualify as slots venues. So far, the state has received only one bid for the Anne Arundel County license, from The Cordish Companies of Baltimore.
Cordish Principal Joseph Weinberg presented his company's vision for the proposed facility at a public hearing before the council in April.
"This is not a slots warehouse," he said. "This is truly a world-class attraction."
The developer's plans include a lavish, 200,000-square-foot gaming and entertainment complex and a parking garage with electronic way finding technology to help drivers locate open spaces. The facility would tentatively be built on existing parking areas behind the mall's food court to minimize environmental impact. Weinberg confirmed that Cordish would own the building and lease the land.
Concerns about the potential for crime are not unfounded, he added, considering that crime is "already an existing condition" at the mall.
The addition of a gaming venue could work to deter crime, Weinberg argued, citing casinos' standard use of sophisticated security and surveillance systems and policies of hiring professional security personnel with career law enforcement backgrounds.
Cordish recommended a regional approach to security issues that will bring new resources to the area, and advocated spending local resource grants on public safety as part of an overall crime solution.

Community Concern
The county council held a public hearing on the new legislation on May 26, which was too late to include a report for this issue. But at previous meetings, many of the residents who spoke out against allowing slots at the mall cited concerns ranging from crime to increased traffic as reasons for their opposition.
But Marty Glaze of Hanover, vice president of the Commercial Interiors construction company, said he considered a vote for slots important for the region's economy, particularly if it brought construction and other jobs to the region.
"I'm a resident just up the street from the mall, so I'm not interested in seeing traffic jams or more crime either," Glaze said, "but I'm seeing companies like General Growth Properties going bankrupt ... and I feel that something like this could be [a positive growth influence]."
Having worked with Cordish - in the past - he helped build the company's Power Plant Live venue in Baltimore - Glaze said he has no concerns about how the facility would be managed.
"I'm familiar with their products here and [elsewhere], and I know they do first-class projects," he said. "With Cordish, you've got a company located in Baltimore that's got a vested interest in making something here that they can be proud of."

State Interests
Some of the revenue from the proposed slots facility will go toward improving purses in the state's ailing thoroughbred racing industry.
As bankrupt Magna Entertainment Corp. seeks to sell off its assets, which include Laurel Park, Pimlico Race Course and the Preakness Stakes, the state of Maryland is understandably tense; so much so that the General Assembly recently passed legislation giving the state authority to claim eminent domain over these assets to keep the Preakness from leaving Maryland.
Of course, nobody wants to see the situation deteriorate to a last resort scenario, so the state is working through its Department of Business and Economic Development (DBED) to improve the odds of an acceptable outcome.
"The Preakness Stakes is a significant part of the state's history, tradition and culture," said DBED Spokesperson Karen Glenn-Hood, who added that state officials have been monitoring the bankruptcy case to ensure that Maryland's interests are protected.
Those officials have also received phone calls from at least six interested bidders to discuss state expectations. "We need to ensure that the process continues," Glenn-Hood said, "but we also recognize that the state can't play too great of a role in the process, either."

Goodbye 'Freakness'
Attendance was down at this year's Preakness, but according to Maryland Jockey Club (MJC) President and COO Tom Chuckas, that had a lot more to do with a ban on patrons bringing their own alcohol to the infield than the state of the racing industry.
"It was down probably more than we anticipated, but we recognized that something had to be done this year" to discourage the rowdy behavior long associated with the infield crowd, he said.
An overwhelming majority of the people Chuckas talked to on the infield during the event approved of the decision, he added, while the entertainment provided by rock groups ZZ Top and Buckcherry also appeared to be well received.
According to figures provided by the MJC, this year's attendance figure of 77,850 was the lowest since 1983 (71,768). Overall handle of nearly $86.7 million ranked this year's event fifth in terms of money wagered, although Preakness-only handle of $59.7 million was the second best amount in the event's history.
Television ratings for this year's Preakness Stakes were also the second best ever registered, so there are high points as well to build on as this saga continues to unwind.
"We'll be reviewing the good, the bad and the ugly over the next two weeks," Chuckas said, "to make recommendations for next year's event."