Virginia state Senator David Marsden said he will reintroduce legislation allowing Fairfax County to hold a referendum on developing a casino, similar to an unsuccessful bill he sponsored last year. The project would include a casino, convention center, concert hall, hotel and other amenities.
Marsden said his preferred location would be Tysons Corner, but his bill would allow the county to choose a site near any one of the Silver Line Metro Stations, including Reston. “This will help with Silver Line travel, and it will open up Tysons/Reston to the wealthiest parts of Maryland, such as Potomac, Bethesda, Chevy Chase and Northwest D.C. to some extent,” Marsden said.
Noting the pandemic caused the demand for office space to decrease, he added a casino would help property values return to pre-pandemic levels.
Marsden told the Fairfax County Times, “We have a lot of empty buildings now. Our industry for my entire life has been our proximity to the District of Columbia. Now, while that’s not eliminated, it’s been greatly reduced by the commercial real estate, which is all the revenue that we’re no longer going to be getting and the fact that office buildings are going down in value.”
Marsden said he considers the proximity to MGM National Harbor Hotel & Casino a non-issue. It’s difficult to access from the Beltway due to heavy traffic, he said, adding although it attracts players from Virginia, it only contributes to Maryland’s economy. “We’re losing $150 million a year to MGM. We’re paying for Maryland schools, not ours,” Marden told the Times.
Incoming Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell stated his frustration that Maryland generates tax revenue to fund its schools with casinos whose customer base depends on Virginians.
Marsden noted he has been in talks with Comstock Holding Companies, which has formed a political action committee, Building A Remarkable Virginia, to promote a casino. Recently Comstock Chief Executive Officer Christopher Clemente contributed $180,000 to the PAC, according to state campaign finance data.
Several members of the Fairfax County board of supervisors said they’d support a casino referendum, especially since the project also would include a much-needed convention center. Dalia Palchik, representing Tysons Corner, said she hasn’t been approached about supporting a casino in her district but is open to legislation allowing a voter referendum on the issue. “Definitely the devil is in the details with this one,” she said.
A Fairfax County casino has its share of opponents, however. Fairfax County Supervisor Walter Alcorn, representing the Reston area, said putting a casino along the Silver Line would be a waste of the region’s most valuable real estate. He added a referendum would be a mistake due to the large amounts of money pro-casino interests can put toward a ballot measure. “It’s bad politics,” he said.
The town council in Vienna, located next to Tysons Corner, released a statement to the Times stating it is “unanimously opposed to a casino in Tysons. A casino in Tysons would not align with the community values in Vienna. With the location in such close proximity to the town of Vienna, we are very concerned with the harmful economic and wellness impacts to our residents.”
Vienna council members said the town could experience increased traffic and other unintended consequences. Councilman Howard Springsteen said casinos bring “an unwholesome community.”
In an interview with the Times, State Senator Jennifer Boysko, representing Reston, said, “I don’t believe that the residents of Fairfax County, specifically those that I know in Reston, want a casino.” In fact, Reston residents have formed an organization, Citizens Opposed to Reston Casino, over concerns about increased crime. CORC representative Terry Maynard told the Times, “What no one has done in the Virginia legislature is look at the social impacts of opening a casino, with or without a hotel and conference center, anywhere in the state, including Reston. And it is not an easy task.”
CORC cites the 2004 study, Casinos, Crime, and Community Costs, by David Mustard and Earl Grinols. According to the study, “Most factors that reduce crime occur before or shortly after a casino opens, whereas those that increase crime, including problem and pathological gambling, occur over time.”
A 2019 study commissioned by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission indicated a Northern Virginia casino could generate $155 million in annual tax revenue−nearly twice the projected revenue for a Richmond casino, which voters rejected twice.
Marsden said, “I don’t like gambling. I don’t like express lanes. I wish we would just pay for everything with what we’ve got. But we have to realize the world we’re in is changing.”
