The fog of slots
Very good piece in the Annapolis Capital by Liam Farrell on what happens if the Cordish slots proposal for Arundel Mills mall is defeated in referendum next month. The short answer: It's far from clear.
The commission's members have already staked their position on such a scenario. Chairman Donald Fry said last week they will not do anything - they will not revoke Cordish's license award, they will not start the process for seeking new bids on the Anne Arundel site - until the County Council moves with zoning legislation again.This game of chicken has been done before. In 2009, the commission and council stared each other down for months over whether Cordish should be awarded a license before Arundel Mills was properly zoned.
Eventually, the commission moved first, but Fry said this time they would wait to not only see what the council does with zoning, but also to make sure such legislation can no longer be petitioned to be overturned.
Comments
Fry and Neill predicted in Sep 09 it would be a mess if they awarded a license without zoning. So what did they do; award a license without zoning. Only in Maryland!
Posted by: John | October 4, 2010 11:18 AM
Whatever the ultimate decision, the truth is that this is the last chance for Maryland to reap the benefits of slots revenue. The No Slots/Penn National group keeps telling us that Laurel racetrack is an option, and its not. It's now or never for Question A.
Posted by: Dathan Palax | October 4, 2010 11:04 PM