Judge clears way for Cordish slots casino

Posted: 7:00 pm Fri, June 25, 2010
By Steve Lash
Daily Record Legal Affairs Writer

Baltimore developer David Cordish can press ahead with his plan for a slots casino near Arundel Mills mall after a circuit court judge on Friday struck down a planned referendum challenging the controversial proposal.

Anne Arundel County Circuit Court Judge Ronald A. Silkworth sided with Cordish’s argument that the Maryland constitution bars the challenge because the constitutional provision and laws allowing for slots were designed to raise money. Appropriations measures are not subject to referendum under the state constitution, Silkworth said.

Cordish subsidiary PPE Casino Resorts Maryland hailed Silkworth’s decision, while opponents of the slots plan vowed to appeal the ruling.

“The court’s ruling today is a tremendous victory for the taxpayers of Maryland in general and Anne Arundel County in particular,” said Joseph Weinberg, the company’s managing member, in a statement. “Our facility in Arundel Mills will generate hundreds of millions of dollars in new taxes for the state and county, when these funds are urgently needed.”

But Alan M. Rifkin, an attorney for the opposing groups, which includes the Maryland Jockey Club, said the ruling was not legally sound. The measures permitting slots were zoning and planning legislation, not appropriation, and thus subject to referendum, he added.

“While we respect the court’s order, zoning and planning ordinances have always been subject to referendum,” Rifkin said in a statement. “When the people voted in 2008 to allow slots facilities they did so with a clear understanding that those facilities were subject to all zoning and planning laws.”

Rifkin added that he is “confident” Silkworth’s ruling will be reversed on appeal and the referendum will go forward on Election Day in November.