Monday slots vote in Anne Arundel is likely 

Posted: 7:00 pm Sun, December 6, 2009
By Nicholas Sohr
Daily Record Business Writer

A proposed slots parlor next to the Arundel Mills shopping mall faces a pair of long-awaited votes crucial to its development on Monday evening.

The state Video Lottery Facility Location Commission will take up the proposal after last month lauding its potential economic benefits. The 4,750-machine casino would be the largest in the state.

The Anne Arundel County Council has a pair of zoning bills on its agenda — one would allow for the casino to be built at Arundel Mills and the other would limit gaming to sites south of Route 32.

Only five of seven council members will vote on Monday. Joshua J. Cohen will be sworn in as mayor of Annapolis earlier in the day and Vice Chairman C. Edward Middlebrooks has recused himself, citing unspecified connections to parties tied to the proposal.

Bills need four votes to pass.

Councilman Jamie Benoit, a slots opponent, suggested delaying action on the zoning bills for two weeks, when a replacement for Cohen will be seated, but said Friday evening he will head into Monday’s meeting preparing to cast a vote.

“It doesn’t look like it was met with much enthusiasm,” Benoit said of the proposed delay.

Councilman Ronald C. Dillon Jr., a slots supporter, said he hopes council will vote on Monday.

“I can see both sides,” he said. “You have two-sevenths of the county that aren’t represented in this vote any longer. Having said that, I don’t know if it’s fair to the person coming in to put them on the spot with something they haven’t been involved with.”

Middlebrooks said he supports delaying action on the bills until the Dec. 21 meeting.

“I never thought of Monday as a deadline,’ he said. “I always thought council should get this done in December.”

The council’s inaction has loomed large over the plan submitted by Cordish Cos., a national development firm based in Baltimore. A bill that would have allowed for the casino was first introduced in March. Later, both council and the state commission insisted the other side move first on the Cordish plan.

Maryland Live! Casino, which would be built in the parking lot outside the west entrance of the mall, would create 2,500 construction jobs, employ about 1,500 in permanent positions and funnel $337.4 million in taxes to the state and county, according to an analysis of the plan conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

“There is just so much at stake that I can’t believe the council would turn their backs on not only just the best interests of the citizens of the county, but the citizens of the state,” Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold said.

Leopold said a two-week delay in the council’s action wouldn’t doom the casino.

“The goal is to secure four votes,” he said. “This issue has had more twists and turns than a Bronx cab ride. I’ve learned never to prejudge a vote, including with this council, but I remain cautiously optimistic that we will secure four votes by the end of the year.”

Donald C. Fry, chairman of the state commission, said the Anne Arundel slots license could be put out for bid again if the Cordish plan fails to gain local approval, but would not speculate about what would come of Monday’s votes.

“At this stage we’re just going to continue to move forward with our process,” he said.

Cordish and Arundel Mills officials have remained publicly optimistic of the council’s approval. The company held a job fair three weeks ago to advertise the wide range of employment opportunities at the $320 million gaming facility.

Cordish President and Principal Joseph Weinberg wrote in an e-mail Friday that he remains “confident” the proposal will be approved by the Anne Arundel council.

“Arundel Mills is not only the best gaming entertainment site in Anne Arundel County and the State, but probably the best gaming location in the United States,” Weinberg wrote. “The project will generate 4,000 jobs in an environment where the national unemployment rate exceeds 10 percent.”