In Virginia, state Senator Dave Marsden said if he wins the election for the newly created 35th District, he’s “certainly very strongly looking at” reintroducing in the 2024 legislative session the casino bill he filed in January, adding Fairfax County to the list of authorized Virginia casino-host communities.
The bill was withdrawn but, in an interview with FFX.com, Marsden said a new measure would not be identical to the earlier version. He said, “I do want to talk to some of our elected folks in Fairfax County to see how they would want the bill structured, to take a look at it.”
Marsden said the county needs to consider all options to diversify its commercial tax base. He noted that because Tysons has gotten more residents over the past decade, and has a strong commercial base and four Metro stations, it would be “the ideal place” for an entertainment district that could include a casino.
“That’s becoming Fairfax County’s downtown, and we want to locate it on the Silver Line because that’s what the Silver Line was built for,” he told FFX. “It wasn’t just to bring in commuters from Loudoun County or to get people to the airport. It was designed also to allow for higher density development like high-rise apartments and office buildings.”
Marsden said he has met with the developer Comstock, which has proposed building a casino near the Wiehle-Reston East Metro station, where it has been constructing the new mixed-use Reston Station neighborhood. If the General Assembly would pass Marsden’s bill, a county-wide referendum on a casino would be required.
He said, “Comstock’s idea for an entertainment district, I think, is a reasonable idea that the county needs to consider. Ultimately, I will not make the decision as to whether Fairfax County has a casino or where it’s located, but merely give them the opportunity to make that decision for themselves.”
Marsden said he has not been approached by any other casino developers or investors besides Comstock, which gave $10,000 to Marsden’s reelection campaign on June 22, according to the Virginia Public Access Project.
Marsden noted the Virginia Lottery reported this summer the state’s three operating casinos generated a total of $308 million in revenue by the end of June, exceeding all expectations. The resulting tax revenue from a Fairfax County casino could help fund schools or the Metro without pressuring the residential real estate tax base.
He told FFX, “Things change and you have to respond to them, and the big change right now is commercial real estate is collapsing, and that’s because of the pandemic. People are working from home and not using Metro, and all of a sudden, the amount of money we have to put into Metro is going to go dramatically up, and we have to prepare for the future as to how we’re going to pay for that. So, let’s let Fairfax County decide what it is they want to do to pay for that. They may say no to a casino. They may say yes to something else, but I’m just here to give them as many options as they feel necessary.”
Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay said, “Even if a referendum was approved, and a casino proposal were to be submitted to the county, it would be subject to Fairfax County’s full land use process including all comprehensive plan and zoning ordinance requirements and the associated public engagement and public hearings before approval.”
Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik, whose district includes most of Tysons, said she’s willing to discuss any proposal that reaches her office, but she’s “awfully skeptical” about a casino proposal. She told FFX, “If the residents of Providence District were to pass a casino referendum, that’s one thing, but otherwise, this seems like a whole lot of nothing.”
