Proposed Staples Mill gambling site causing controversy in Henrico

HENRICO, Va. (WWBT) -A new gambling site could soon be built in a shopping center off of Staples Mill Road, though some now say the proposal was submitted unfairly.

Churchill Downs LLC is behind the project to bring 175 historical horse racing machines to Rosie’s in the Brookland region of the county. Dan Schmitt represents that region on the Board of Supervisors.

He says the group came to the county before asking about the project, and he and other supervisors said they did not think it would be a good fit for the area.

This is why the Board of Supervisors worked on a new ordinance for months, requiring more public input before a proposal could be submitted for such a project. While this ordinance was in the works for most of the year, it did not go into effect until June 25.

Churchill Downs filed its plans on June 19, meaning the new rule would not apply to it.

“They were able to skip the public process and not allow the residents to have a voice of what business goes, quite frankly, 500 yards from their front door,” Schmitt said. “The process was months long that the county went through in order to put this public process forward. They knew all along what we were doing.”

Schmitt says it is not about the gambling itself but rather the lack of public input. He is standing up for neighbors like Damian Carter.

Carter lives just a few minutes from the Staples Mill Shopping Center, where the Rosies would be, and he says he had no idea there were plans to change up the current space until 12 On Your Side told him.

“Some kind of voting initiative, maybe even a flyer that was put in people’s mailboxes, that would have been great,” Carter said.

Churchill Downs technically does not need his approval since they submitted forms before June 25. Doing so protects the proposal under prior Virginia and Henrico rules, so legally, nothing incorrect has been done.

“Under older law in the 90s, have a by-right zoning for it,” said 16th District Senator Schuyler VanValkenburg. “But the county asked them to withdraw the project and to go through this public vetting process. And in Churchill Downs, basically said pound sand.”

VanValkenburg recalls the county previously asking Churchill Downs to withdraw the project so it could undergo public vetting, but the group did not.

That is why he, along with other Virginia politicians, sent a bipartisan letter to Churchill Downs asking them to withdraw their proposal.

“We’re unified in our belief that the company should do it the right way, and I think it also shows a strong majority of people who are pretty skeptical of the project altogether,” VanValkenburg said.

He and Schmitt agree it is okay if the group resubmits the plans, but they want it done in what they feel is the right way and allows for public input.

“Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should,” VanValkenburg said.

Churchill Downs did not have a comment for 12 On Your Side.

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