Tensions over Senate bill to make Fairfax the sixth locality to host casino in Virginia

 By Jimmy Henderson

Special to Blogger.com and JentlemanJim.com 

Sen. Dave Marsden (D-Fairfax) introduced a bill that would make Fairfax the sixth locality eligible to host a casino in Virginia. Marsden proposed Tysons as the location for a casino and gaming establishment that he said could bring in $155 million in tax revenues.

“This is the canary in the coal mine that our economy is changing in Virginia, and we need this help,” Marsden said at a subcommittee meeting on the bill last month. 

Marsden said the revenue generated by business from Virginians at Maryland’s MGM National Harbor Casino is taking $150 million per year from revenues that could be generated in the Commonwealth if a casino opens here in Fairfax County. He said the casino could resurrect the county’s economy in the wake of lost revenues from the pandemic

The former site of auto dealership in Tysons. Photo from Google

Senate Bill 675 requires proposed sites for a gaming casino to be located outside of the Interstate 495 beltway, be located within a quarter mile of a Silver Line Metro station, part of a mixed-use project development, within two miles of major shopping with at least 1.5 million square feet of gross building area. Proposed projects must also be outside of the Dulles airport flight path. 

Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chair Jeff McKay wrote to the Virginia General Assembly leaders to share concerns about the process and issues in legislation held by the board. 

“Unlike other jurisdictions that received the authority to hold a referendum to host a casino, Fairfax County did not seek such authority and has not been substantively involved in the development of the casino concept envisioned by stakeholders and the patron of the legislation,” McKay said. “It likely comes as no surprise to you that the location and concept included in the legislation and reported in the media has generated significant community concern and opposition.”

McKay said Fairfax County's share of the revenue from casinos would be only about a quarter. He said the state makes the biggest gains from such businesses and that localities wind up being left to deal with the challenges posed to their residents.

The bill was assigned to the Gaming Subcommittee of the Senate General Laws and Technology Committee where a substitute was printed. The bill was referred to the Finance and Appropriations Committee where it was continued to 2025 in a 13-2 vote.

Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn sent Marsden a letter reinforcing McKay’s assertion that Fairfax did not ask for the proposal to host a casino. In it, he pointed to opposition for the bill by local groups including the Greater Tysons Citizens Association, the Greater Tysons Green Civic Association, and the Reston Citizens Association among others. 

“These groups represent thousands of concerned and active neighbors,” Alcorn said. “And while I agree the economic environment is changing, this proposal is too extreme. You are asking to put a casino into an emerging community – not an industrial area – that is near two high schools and three elementary schools.”

The Reston Citizens Association organized a bus trip for some of its members on Feb 6, to drive down to Richmond and share their concerns at the Senate Finance Committee hearing. Officially, the association opposed the passing of SB 675 “in the strongest possible terms,” citing what they call potentially detrimental impacts of a casino’s development on the community, and its transportation infrastructure.

After members of Reston Association staff met with Board members and Marsden, the senator amended the language of the bill to no longer include Reston as a potential location.

Alcorn used to serve on the county’s Planning Commission, where he said he was active in developing the Comprehensive Plan for Tysons. 

“This Comprehensive Plan is an ambitious, carefully crafted multi-generational plan designed to transform Tysons from the auto-dependent shopping and office center that characterized its first 50 years to a walkable urban downtown,” Alcorn said. “And after years of work, it was adopted as a community consensus with no opposition at either the Planning Commission or Board of Supervisors public hearings. A casino proposal would blow up that community consensus and destabilize the three-generation transformation that is not even one-generation old.”