Voters in Nash County, North Carolina, will have the chance to approve or reject a proposed casino, following the 6-12 vote by the county board of commissioners to hold a referendum.
Nash County, located east of Raleigh, is one of three recommended casino host counties included in a North Carolina Senate draft bill, including Nash, Anson and Rockingham. At a press conference, House Speaker Tim Moore told reporters that “the report back to me is that the selected counties support it.” Rocky Mount Mayor Sandy Roberson’s chief of staff, Cary Cox, said, “We do want to participate because this opportunity could change our city in so many great ways.”
A single developer would be chosen to build all three casinos. A fourth casino also could be developed by the Lumbee Tribe in the southeast part of the state.
The three counties were selected according to criteria specified in a report Spectrum Gaming. These included:
- Located east of Interstate 77;
- Bordering Interstate 95 or traversed by it;
- At most 60 miles from an international airport;
- Includes fewer than 100,000 residents; and
- Rated as a Tier-1 county, or “one of the 40 most economically depressed counties in the state,” by the North Carolina Department of Commerce.
Under the proposed legislation, a voter referendum isn’t required. Commissioner Marvin Arrington, who cast the single no vote, said only voters in the city of Rocky Mount should vote on the casino issue since that would be the Nash County location. Other commissioners who approved the referendum also said the vote should be limited to Rocky Mount residents.
The next Nash County is scheduled for March 5, 2024. However, if only Rocky Mount residents can vote, that opportunity would be part of the municipal elections on October 10, 2023.
While area officials are in favor of a casino, many locals are opposed. A recent community meeting at the Ellisboro Baptist Church drew a standing-room-only crowd to protest any casino development on 192 acres off Highway 220 in Rockingham County. Most who spoke favored a referendum on expanded gambling near their homes. Concerns included threats to the rural way of life and the small-town atmosphere, as well as an increase in crime and human trafficking.
Rally organizer and gubernatorial candidate Mark Walker, who has represented Rockingham County for six years in the state legislature, told WGHP, “It blew me away to see how close this proposed site would be across the street from Camp Carefree that serves and ministers to children with disabilities.”
Camp Carefree board member Rhonda Rodenbough said, “I hope that you will continue to fight with us to help us keep our community safe, to keep this camp for our children and to help our community grow in a respectful and progressive way that is better for all of our lives and all of our children’s lives and not just for a money-making scheme.”
Many of the rally participants said they plan to attend the Rockingham County commission meeting on August 7.
Currently, three tribal casinos operate in North Carolina: Harrah’s Cherokee in Cherokee; Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River in Murphy; and Catawba Two Kings Casino in King’s Mountain.
