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Casino battles raise question of who should have power over siting: the state or local governments

The dream of a Fairfax County casino may have gone bust before it even really got off the ground.

Last month, two Virginia lawmakers introduced identical bills that would have amended state law to allow a casino to be built in any locality that has a population of more than 1 million and operates under an urban county executive form of government.

There’s only one county in Virginia that currently meets those requirements, and that’s Fairfax County.

But just days after being filed, both bills were withdrawn, with patron Sen. Dave Marsden, D-Fairfax, saying they were “rushed” and more research was needed.

Marsden has left the door open for legislation to be re-introduced in 2024 in media interviews. However, discussions with lawmakers, county officials and a regional economic policy expert show there may be little appetite to go all in on a Fairfax County casino even if the proposal were to come up again next year.

The response “has mostly been negative,” Marsden told the Mercury. “It’s an election year, so people are nervous talking about those kinds of things.”

The bills also set further parameters on where a casino could go in the county, limiting it to being outside of the Beltway, not in the Dulles International Airport flight path, and “within one-quarter of a mile [of] an existing station on the Metro Silver Line.”

Those restrictions seem to leave only a few options for sites. Those likely include locations near Tysons Corner mall, Reston Town Center and Herndon’s new Innovation Center Metro station, as the Washington Business Journal reported.

Marsden said anxiety over the Silver Line and its newly opened 11.4-mile stretch connecting Reston and Loudoun County, an extension that cost $3 billion, is a big reason he proposed the bill in the first place.

“I’m very concerned about the future of Metro. … Ridership is down and we are facing a fiscal cliff here shortly in terms of how we are going to support Metro,” Marsden said. “Getting places built up with attractions and generating nightlife, generating restaurants and making it a destination improves both the economy of the commonwealth, the economy of Fairfax County and ridership on the Silver Line.”

However, at least one Fairfax County official isn’t buying into this rationale. Supervisor Walter Alcorn, who represents the district that includes Reston Town Center, has called the siting of a casino near the Silver Line a “bad idea on multiple levels” and “foolhardy.” Furthermore, he said, none of his constituents have expressed support for the idea.

“I’m not opposed to having a casino located near a Metro station somewhere, but why you would put that on the most valuable property in the region around the Silver Line stations baffles me,” Alcorn told the Mercury, pointing to research showing property values around the line are likely to soar.

Metro does have “serious problems,” he said, but a “casino is not going to bail Metro out of its financial woes.”

Virginia’s casino conundrum

Casinos have been a hot topic in Virginia since 2020, when the General Assembly approved legislation allowing casinos to be built in five Virginia cities if local residents supported the idea in a referendum.

Residents in four cities — Bristol, Danville, Norfolk and Portsmouth — voted in favor of casinos. Late this January, Rivers Casino Portsmouth opened, becoming the first permanent full-service casino in Virginia.

But in the fifth city of Richmond, voters rejected the option in 2021. Petersburg has since vied to take over the fifth slot, but the legislation required to authorize the city to move forward faces tough prospects in the Senate.

The battles over casino siting have also raised the question of whether the General Assembly should continue to take the lead on deciding where casinos will and will not go in Virginia.

The referendum provisions of state law mean a casino can only be built if residents approve it, and any specific proposals have to go through local land use processes, including zoning review and public hearings. But under current law, the General Assembly continues to set the basic parameters of where a casino can go, leading to bills such as those put forward this year specifying casinos can only be sited outside of the Beltway and near a Metro station.

That’s because of the Dillon Rule, said Mark Rozell, dean of the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University. Virginia adheres to the Dillon Rule, which dictates that localities can only exercise powers expressly granted to them by the state. In terms of legislating exactly where a casino can and cannot go, the state does have the authority to make that call, but that doesn’t mean it has to exercise it.

“Local governments in Dillon Rule states such as Virginia have for years pushed for greater autonomy to meet their own needs as they see best,” Rozell said. “The detailed conditions outlined in these bills suggest that state legislators do not trust localities how to figure this out for themselves. It is a bit paternalistic in my view.”

Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chair Jeff McKay has repeatedly pushed back on the notion that a county with over 1 million people and an annual budget exceeding $4.7 billion shouldn’t be trusted to make decisions not explicitly allowed by the state. In fact, this issue of the state ceding some of this decision-making authority back to Fairfax County is part of the county’s legislative agenda for this year.

“Existing local government authority must be preserved and expanded, particularly in such key areas as taxation, land use, and the protection of public health, safety, and welfare,” the agenda reads.

Asked about the casino issue, McKay’s office reiterated the “long standing position” that localities should have more authority over land use decisions but declined to take a stance on the casino legislation.

Is building a Northern Virginia casino a gamble?

Beyond the local authority issue and the increasing popularity of gaming in Virginia, the question remains if a casino within the Silver Line corridor would be a good idea for Fairfax County and Virginia.

Terry Clower, director of George Mason University’s Center for Regional Analysis and a professor of public policy, certainly doesn’t think so.

“My first thought [when seeing the bill] was why,” Clower told the Mercury. “My second thought was why the hell why.”

Casinos today are more than just gaming, explained Clower; they are huge entertainment venues and a “destination” complete with restaurants, shopping, hotels and concert halls. The justification for their development is not simply that they will attract local residents to spend money there, but that they will attract others from far and wide to bring new money to the local economy.

“That’s getting to be a much harder argument because of the ubiquitousness of the casinos themselves,” Clower said.

Currently, a very large MGM-branded casino sits across the Potomac River from Alexandria in National Harbor. Another casino is in Baltimore. Four more are under development in the commonwealth. The question becomes how many of these massive entertainment centers can be supported in the market, Clower said.

Furthermore, he said, if a casino is built but isn’t successful, it may still pull spending and revenue from other local businesses, reorienting the economy around one massive attraction and “hollowing out” surrounding neighborhoods. And, in a worst-case scenario, the casino could just close.

“Then you got this big empty shell sitting there that depresses local property until you eventually have to raze it and redevelop it,” said Clower. “Then you have lost all resources and effort.”

Despite the continued need for development, Clower said building a casino along the Silver Line would signal panic.

“I can’t help but think of it as being in a way a measure of economic development desperation,” he said.

Marsden, however, continues to call a Fairfax County casino an “intriguing idea” and notes the legislation was simply a “trial balloon” to gauge interest. He said he will propose legislation again next yet only if county officials tell him they think it’s potentially a good option.

If not, then legislation to allow for a casino to be built in the Silver Line corridor will no longer be in the cards.

“You would never see it again,” said Marsden.

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On July 12, 2022, the Fairfax City Council voted to change 14 street names as recommended by the Connecting Fairfax City for All Stakeholder Advisory Group. Thousands of names were received via a public survey. The names have been reviewed, and the subcommittee has provided Council with names for consideration. Council will vote on new names at its Nov. 29 meeting.

Residents are encouraged to weigh in on the proposed names, or suggest others, until 5 p.m. Nov. 28. Please use the comments tool below, or send email to streetnames@fairfaxva.gov(External link).

Name changes will take effect Jan. 1, 2023. Info: email(External link), 703-385-7800.

For background on the Connecting Fairfax City for All initiative, please visit the archived project page.

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linkedin Email this link

On July 12, 2022, the Fairfax City Council voted to change 14 street names as recommended by the Connecting Fairfax City for All Stakeholder Advisory Group. Thousands of names were received via a public survey. The names have been reviewed, and the subcommittee has provided Council with names for consideration. Council will vote on new names at its Nov. 29 meeting.

Residents are encouraged to weigh in on the proposed names, or suggest others, until 5 p.m. Nov. 28. Please use the comments tool below, or send email to streetnames@fairfaxva.gov(External link).

Name changes will take effect Jan. 1, 2023. Info: email(External link), 703-385-7800.

For background on the Connecting Fairfax City for All initiative, please visit the archived project page.

Cooling real estate market trends continued into December 2022, according to reports from the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors (NVAR) and Virginia Realtors.

Sales declined further in December, falling to just above 2014 levels. Sales in December 2022 fell 44.8 percent compared to December 2021. Overall, median prices were up nearly 5 percent for 2022; although prices flattened in December from the year prior and homes took a little longer to sell, according to NVAR.

“Sellers should expect their homes to stay on the market a bit longer than years past, but prices should remain stable. Buyers understand the value of homes that are in exceptional condition. In many ways, this resembles pre-pandemic 2019—which signals a return to a more normal market,” explained Heather Embrey, NVAR board president, and realtor. “The increase in active listings is also a positive sign for buyers as more housing inventory provides opportunities to possibly negotiate and find the right home.”

The median sold price for a home also decreased slightly from November 2022, matching December 2021 at a price of $599,000. This was still an increase compared to the December 2019 median sold price of $554,000.

“I think prices will decline slightly, in my opinion. Prices have already declined, I think you’ll see further decline, but it’ll be slight,” said Gary Bare, an area realtor.

December capped off a year of cooling markets in Virginia, with about 123,000 homes sold statewide in 2022 – 20 percent fewer than 2021. 7,492 homes were sold statewide, a sharp drop of nearly 38 percent from the same time last year. Virginia Realtors’ December 2022 Virginia Home Sales Report suggests the rapid rise of interest rates over much of 2022 played a significant role in the slowdown.

From an annual perspective, statewide sales activity is back to pre-pandemic totals, approaching market levels seen in 2018.

“Sales activity in the commonwealth’s housing market has been cooling for 13 consecutive months now. This is largely due to mortgage rates doubling over the past year, causing many to delay their home search,” says Virginia Realtors chief economist Ryan Price. “We’ve been seeing fewer new sales contracts each month. Homes are taking longer to sell, and sellers, on average, are not getting their asking price.”

These shifts, paired with increases in inventory, could come as welcome news to potential buyers.

“We are still seeing fewer new listings coming on the market; however, Virginia’s inventories of available homes are, in fact, growing,” says Katrina M. Smith, Virginia Realtors 2023 president. “The fact that homes are taking longer to sell is allowing the overall supply of active listings to build. Buyers may begin to see more options, not to mention less competition.”

In Virginia, there were 16,115 active listings on the market at the end of December. This is a supply jump of nearly 20 percent over the same time last year.

With sales down compared to December 2021, prices above pre-pandemic levels, and mortgage rates starting to go down according to financial institutions, it will remain to be seen if the 2023 housing market follows or breaks the trends of 2022.

FAIRFAX, Va. (7News) — Happening Tuesday, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors are expected to get an ear full from their constituents and county employees about the massive raise supervisors are proposing for themselves.

While county employees are set to get a 2% raise, Fairfax County supervisors are proposing a 36% to 45% raise for themselves.

RELATED | 7News uncovers taxpayers pay for Fairfax Co. Chair Jeff McKay's car, tolls, gas and more

You can weigh in on how you feel about the proposed raises starting at 4:30 p.m. at a public hearing on Tuesday, March 21, 2023, at the Fairfax County Government Center. You can sign up to speak or you can show up.

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Fairfax County Board of Supervisors currently make $95,000 per year, plus retirement and healthcare benefits. Chairman Jeff McKay gets $100,000, plus benefits.

And as 7News uncovered, taxpayers also pay for McKay’s take-home county car, his tolls, gas, car insurance, oil changes, and McKay said he doesn’t have to pay a car tax on his county car. Now, McKay has voted to allow taxpayers to give him a 45% pay bump to $145,000.

All but two Fairfax County supervisors are asking for up to $130,000 for their part-time positions. Supervisors Herrity and Alcorn voted against the raises.

RELATED | Fairfax County Board of Supervisors vote in favor of giving themselves a massive raise

As of 2020, the median income for a person in Fairfax County is $54,708, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Fairfax County supervisors currently make some of the highest salaries for part-time elected positions in Virginia. Virginia State Senators represent about twice as many people as Fairfax County Supervisors and State Senators make $18,000 a year. Virginia Delegates make $17,640 a year.

Meanwhile, part-time supervisors in nearby counties earn less. In Loudoun County, supervisors make $70,916 a year. The Loudoun County Chair and Vice Chair make more.

Prince William County Board of Supervisors make $43,422 a year –-- with the Board Chair earning more too.

Loudoun County supervisors are currently proposing a $5,000 raise for themselves and Prince William County supervisors are proposing a 70% increase in their pay.

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — First, it was Richmond’s bid that failed and failed again, then it was Petersburg’s turn to swing for the opportunity. Now, a legislator is proposing that Northern Virginia get its own chance to roll the dice on a casino.

But the proposal isn’t coming from Northern Virginia. Delegate Wren Williams (R – Rocky Mount) is the sole patron of HB 2499, and his district, Virginia’s 9th, stretches across a rural portion of Southside Virginia — about as far from the capital beltway as you can get.

The bill would add an option for any county “with a population greater than 1 million” and “the urban county executive form of government” to hold a referendum and let voters decide whether they want to allow a casino.

While Fairfax isn’t mentioned by name anywhere in the bill, there’s only one county in Virginia with that many people — Fairfax County, coming in at 1.15 million, according to the source cited in the bill. Nowhere else in the state is even close, with the number two spot held by Prince William County at a mere 480,000 residents.

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The bill also places stringent requirements on where casinos can be located within the county, banning locations under Dulles flight paths, anywhere with the 495 beltway, and requiring that the casino be within a quarter mile of a silver line metro station.

That would leave just a handful of potential locations in densely-packed Tyson’s Corner and the outskirts of Reston. The bill has been referred to the House of Delegates committee on general laws but has not yet received a hearing.