Virginia: State Board Approves Disputed Henrico Casino Project

Churchill Downs plans to open Roseshire Gaming Parlor on Glenside Drive

Churchill Downs, which also owns Rosie’s Gaming Emporium locations across Virginia, recently received a state license required to operate the Roseshire Gaming Parlor — despite longstanding objections to the project and the company’s lack of transparency by community members and state and local lawmakers.

State Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg (D–Henrico) and Brookland Supervisor Dan Schmitt — whose district includes the Roseshire site at Glenside Drive and Staples Mill Road — spoke to reporters after the commission’s ruling to outline the county’s next steps in opposing the development.

“I think the supervisor will agree with me: All options are on the table,” VanValkenburg told VPM News. “They still have more permitting to go through, as you guys heard from us in the meeting. We don't think the referendum they're using is a legal use of that referendum, so I think we'll be looking into that as well.”

The tension between Henrico and Churchill Downs stems from the company's use of a since-closed zoning loophole to circumvent the public approval process. The gambling facility will hold 175 historic horse racing machines at the Staples Mill Shopping Center.

Virginia legislation passed in 2018 permits the licensing of these machines, which are terminals similar to slot machines. But Churchill Downs used a Henrico voter referendum passed in November 1992 in order to obtain its license from the racing commission.

Several similar gambling facilities, including locations in New Kent and Hampton, have been approved via referendums passed prior to the General Assembly’s 2018 legislation, but VanValkenburg questioned the legal validity of the company using a 33-year-old referendum in its request.

“To say that we OKed machines in 1992 that weren't even created in 1997 is, I think, an abuse of the law, quite frankly,” VanValkenburg told VPM News. “I think we have seen a company — and now we've seen a racing commission — that have gone out of their way to avoid the people.”

Henrico officials made several efforts to ensure the community had a say in the development of the Roseshire. County zoning code previously allowed businesses to house historical horse racing terminals in several zoning districts by-right, but Henrico amended its zoning ordinance last year to require additional public input.

However, Churchill Downs submitted its permit application less than a month before the updated rules went into effect. As VPM News previously reported, county officials had discussed a Staples Mill gambling site with the former operator of Rosie's — that company later sold its parlors to Churchill Downs.

VanValkenburg successfully garnered bipartisan support for a bill that would require localities to hold referendums before approving licenses to construct or operate certain kinds of gambling facilities in the commonwealth, but Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s budget amendments did away with the measure.

Schmitt said Churchill Downs representatives have declined multiple requests to discuss the project with county officials.

“They are doing whatever it is they want, to run rampant, regardless of what the community wants,” Schmitt told VPM News. “The folks that want to speak to them … are the folks that they are ignoring, and that's the community that they wish to serve.”

Jack Sours, vice president of gaming at Churchill Downs, told the commission that the company would take a “community-focused” approach in regards to hiring area residents and making annual donations to local charities, but Schmitt said the company’s words ring hollow in comparison to its actions.

“I’m proud of the folks who turned out today. They're speaking on behalf not just themselves, they're here to speak on behalf of their neighbors and their community, and they're doing the good work of the public,” Schmitt said. “I only wish we had receptive ears on behalf of the commission and on behalf of the folks who proposed this project.”

Representatives from Churchill Downs declined to comment following Monday’s hearing, beyond confirmation from a spokesperson that the Roseshire is targeting Sept. 29 as its opening date should it receive the necessary paperwork.