Dozens of local residents turned up last week at the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board’s public hearing on Penn National Gaming’s planned $110 million mini-casino in Morgantown, Caernarvon Township.
More than 100 Berks County residents—many wearing buttons that read, “CasiNO!”—turned out to oppose the project, which would place Hollywood Casino Morgantown at the intersection of state Route 10 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike. But proponents of the project also attended, resulting in what gaming board members said was one of the highest turnouts ever for one of its public hearings.
The board hearings are part of the process for mini-casinos, which are satellite facilities owned by current casino licensees, created by the 2017 gaming expansion law. The mini-casinos are limited to 750 slot machines and 40 table games.
At the hearing, Berks County residents decried placement of a casino in an area where Amish and Mennonite communities flourish.
“This area of Southern Berks County is a culture that is very conservative, very God-fearing, has been for a long time, and to put a casino in the middle of that is totally incongruous,” testified Sam Rohrer of the Pennsylvania Pastors Network.
Michele King, a resident of neighboring Honey Brook, presented a petition of 1,029 signatures that she said object to a casino in the Morgantown area because it doesn’t reflect the character of the community. “Our community does not wish to grow on the losses of others,” King said, according to the Penn Live website.
Others opposed the project citing traditional myths about casinos in new areas, such as increases in gambling addiction, drug abuse, prostitution and sex trafficking.
Eaton Hopkins, a resident who wore a “CasiNO!” badge to the hearing, told Penn Live that opponents are just beginning to get organized and are contributing money to fight the project.
“The opposition that’s here is insignificant compared to what’s coming in the weeks and months ahead,” he said.
Proponents of the project, though, also had their chance to testify. “We’ve lost too much industry and business through the years for middle-class families, and this creates a great opportunity for local construction workers, contractors,” said Ryan Helms, president of the Berks County Building Trades, according to local TV station WPVI.
Casino proponents interviewed by WPVI denied the casino will change anything about the local community. “Where the location of the casino is, you’re never going to see those guests,” said Elison Worrall of West Chester. “They’re going to get off that Turnpike, go enjoy themselves at the casino and turn around and get right back on the Turnpike again.”
