Henrico senators, delegates urge Churchill Downs, Inc. to withdraw plans for Henrico gambling facility

The eight members of Henrico County’s Virginia General Assembly delegation Tuesday sent a letter to Churchill Downs Incorporated, urging the company to withdraw plans to operate a gambling facility featuring historical horse racing machines in the Staples Mill Shopping Center in Henrico’s Near West End.

The company submitted plans last month to open the gambling facility at the 25,000-square-foot former site of Surplus Furniture and Mattress in the shopping center, located at the intersection of Glenside Drive and Staples Mill Road. Because the site is already zoned for B-2 (business district) usage, which allows as many as 175 historical horse racing machines and parimutuel betting without public input, the county cannot legally prohibit the company from opening such a location there.

But Henrico officials in May had begun a process through which supervisors ultimately adopted a new ordinance June 25 requiring any such facility to obtain a provisional use permit prior to opening anywhere in the county. Consideration of a PUP by the board requires a public hearing.

At the board’s June 25 meeting, Brookland District Supervisor Dan Schmitt criticized what he said was an attempt by Churchill Downs Inc. to “circumvent” the board’s ordinance-adoption process by filing its plans for the new facility June 18.

“When this jurisdiction states the fact that we’re going to look into this and enact an ordinance that . . . would allow the public the ability to weigh in, that is a publicly known entity and it’s out there that that’s what we’re working on, for weeks or months,” Schmitt said.

In their letter Tuesday, the state lawmakers who represent Henrico were pointed in their remarks.

“This proposal. . . has the potential to bring about undesirable changes to our community,” the lawmakers wrote. “As state legislators, we are committed to advocating for the best interests of our constituents. Allowing this project to proceed without proper scrutiny and public input would be a disservice to the people we represent. We call on the Colonial Downs Group and Rosie’s Gaming Emporium to withdraw its application.”

The letter was signed by state senators Schuyler VanValkenburg (D-16th District), Lamont Baby (D-14th District) and Lashrecse Aird (D-13th District) and Delegates David Owen (R-57th District), Rodney Willett (D-58th District), Buddy Fowler (R-59th District), Destiny LeVere Bolling (D-80th District) and Delores McQuinn (D-81st District).