Next week voters in Anne Arundel County will decide whether to put a casino outside Arundel Mills Mall.

Some opponents of the plan think that if it is defeated — a casino at Laurel Park Racetrack might be an option.

So people who live near the racetrack have been watching the Arundel Mills debate very closely, and they’ve been having a similar debate — some are worried about increased traffic and crime in the Laurel area if a casino were built there.

Others worry about the loss of Laurel Park Racetrack altogether if it’s not.

The sprawling Russett community sits just off Route 198, not far from Laurel Park Racetrack. Many people who live here make the same argument made by people who live near Arundel Mills Mall. ‘We don’t want a casino near our community, and we’re hoping that this referendum will help keep it our of our community and keep our families safe,’ said Joe Franco, who leads the group, ‘No Casino at Russett.’

If Anne Arundel County voters approve the so-called ‘Question A’ next week, there will not be a casino at Laurel Park. Instead, The Cordish Company would move ahead with plans to build the state’s largest casino outside Arundel Mills.

Opponents of Question A in Laurel say that would pull business away from Laurel Park — and eventually shut it down. ‘Who would logically think of putting a slots casino at or near a mall? It’s ridiculous,’ said Ray Szyperski, chairman of the Laurel Park Impact Committee.

He says Laurel Park is a place where people bet already — and a good neighbor that donates money for things like new fire trucks and a library. But even if ‘Question A’ is defeated, developer David Cordish still holds the county’s slots license.

Plus — the company that owns the state’s first casino in Perryville also owns a majority stake in Laurel Park. ‘There’s a lot of things it would have to go through, and I understand that. But the thing is this is the better place for it,’ Szyperski said.

Joe Franco says there’s another problem with a potential Laurel Park casino. The statewide referendum that passed in 2008 directed that a casino must be placed in ‘Anne Arundel County, within 2 miles of MD route 295.’

But South of Route 175, that road is called the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, and Route 175 is well over two miles away from Laurel Park.

‘If you get pulled over by a police officer south of 175 it’s not a local Anne Arundel County police officer it’s a National Park Service police officer and it’s a federal ticket,’ Franco said.

The Anne Arundel County attorney said he would need to study that issue.

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/business/hancock/blog/

A big talking point of opponents of slots at Arundel Mills is: Let’s put slots at Laurel Park raceway instead of Arundel Mills. Then Anne Arundel County can still get the slots revenue and the casino will be where gambling already happens. Mall-slots opponents want, as the ads say, “to put slots in a better location in Anne Arundel County, Laurel Park.”

After all, Laurel Park is within two miles of Maryland Route 295, where slots are allowed under state law. Right? Everybody expected slots to go to Laurel Park, anyway, before the owners stumbled and left the way open for the Cordish Cos. to make a proposal for the mall.

The Constitutional amendment permitting Maryland slots in certain locations specifies one of the locations as: “(I) ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, WITHIN 2 MILES OF MD
ROUTE 295;”

But activists who live in the Russett neighborhood, near Laurel Park, say that the racetrack is not within two miles of Route 295. Slots at the track aren’t allowed under the Constitution, they say.

They may have a case. True, the race course is within two miles of the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, also known as 295. But the portion of the road near Laurel is under federal, not state control, so you could argue that it’s not really “MD Route 295.” According to the Maryland State Highway Administration, the state owns and maintains the road from the Baltimore City line in the north to just past the intersection with Maryland Route 175 in the south. (That’s more than 4 miles from Laurel Park, according to Google Earth.) After that, says SHA spokesman Charles Gischlar, “the federal government picks it up.”

What’s more, below 175 and extending through Anne Arundel County, there are no signs on the road designating it as “295,” Gischlar says.
What’s the road called as it passes Laurel?, I asked National Park Service spokesman Jeffrey Olson. “As far as I know we call it the Baltimore-Washington Parkway,” he said.
“I completely understand that I’m splitting hairs here,” says Joe Franco, who’s on the board of the Russett homeownerassociation and is trying to draw attention to the federal status of the parkway near Laurel Park.
Maybe, but it looks like the law could
have been made a lot clearer. Maybe opponents of Laurel Park slots have ground to argue before a judge that a federal parkway isn’t “Maryland” route anything. If Cordish wins next week, the argument will be irrelevant. But if he loses, this could be another way in which Arundel slots get delayed in the courts.
Here is Wikipedia’s definition of the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, which it says bears the ‘hidden” designation of Maryland 295.
The road begins at an interchange with U.S. Route 50 and Maryland Route 201 near Cheverly in Prince George’s County at the D.C. border, and continues northeast as a parkway maintained by the National Park Service (NPS) to Maryland Route 175 near Fort Meade, serving many federal institutions. This portion of the parkway is dedicated to Gladys Noon Spellman, a representative of Maryland’s 5th congressional district, and has the hidden Maryland Route 295 designation. Commercial vehicles, including trucks, are prohibited within this stretch. After leaving park service boundaries the highway is maintained by the state and signed with the MD 295 designation.

On October 12th, the chair of the Against Slots at The Mall astro turf group, Mr. Jones admitted that they are receiving millions of dollars in support from Penn National Gaming.

He told a large audience at the Earley Heights Fire Department debate that he likens the Penn National Money to a NASCAR driver having corporate sponsors pay to have their logo on a car to help a driver win a race!

Well, good to know that they would sell theirselves to the highest bidder! Unfortunately, the homeowners in Russett and Laurel don’t get to have an out of state and a foreign owned bankrupt company bail us out with millions of dollars to help our campaign.

If your group had such a compelling argument Mr. Jones, why would you need to have these out of state interests pay your campaign?

This is why we are fighting so hard to protect our community! This is why we need your help to keep talking to your friends, family, neighbors and business partners ad let them know that they are trying to shove slots down the throats of families and homeowners who voted overwhelmingly against slots in 2008.

Don’t let your voice get drowned out by fat cat gambling interests out of state. Do your part to help us by emailing us at nocasinoatrussett@gmail.com

Laurel-Area Residents Fight Back Against No Slots at Mall Group
“Stop spreading lies about our neighborhood”

A group of homeowners in the neighborhoods surrounding Laurel Park race track is calling for an end to the No Slots at the Mall campaign message that if zoning for slots at Arundel Mills is defeated then slots will be moved to Laurel Park.
 
“Stop telling people that slots belong at Laurel, stop saying that a vote against Question A will move slots to Laurel, stop spreading lies about our neighborhood,” said Christopher Masak, coordinator of the community group No Casino At Russett.
 
The Russett group takes issue with the No Slots campaign materials and advertisements that use misleading images of horse racing with the phrasing that slots should be “in a more appropriate location.”  Other No Slots campaign tactics clearly identify Laurel as the alternative location should Question A not pass.
 
“The No Slots campaign is attempting to confuse voters that Question A is an Arundel Mills vs. Laurel vote which is not true,” said Christopher Masak.  “Even their recorded phone calls are saying ‘voting against Question A will put slots at Laurel Raceway not Arundel Mills.’  We are now saying enough – stop the lies.”
 
The State of Maryland determined the Laurel Park is not fit for the development needed to accommodate a slots facility.  No Casino At Russett’s website, www.nocasinoatrussett.com, cites environmental and infrastructure problems as to why the race track is not considered a site for the slots casino, including:
·      There are three times as many residents around Laurel Park as there are around Arundel Mills

·      Laurel Park is very close to the Oxbow Nature Preserve and is in a flood zone – paving over green space for development would have a large environmental impact

·      The roadways leading to Laurel Park are unable to handle increased traffic, even with improvements

·      Laurel Park is bankrupt and does not have the finances or management to successfully manage additional development


“We are asking our supporters to walk door-to-door with literature and talk to their neighbors,” said Christopher Masak.  “With so much false information on the TV and in our mailboxes and on our answering machines, it will take face-to-face discussions to spread the truth.”

Most importantly, Democrats in District 21 overwhelmingly re-elected the current incumbents to serve as their nominees in the general election.

We are fortunate to count these incumbents as opponents of putting slots at Laurel Race Track and we will need their help to keep up the pressure till the general election.

SO WHAT DO WE DO NOW?

We need all hands on deck. Russett will definitely be one of the deciders in this election. We need everyone’s help going forward.

Can you?
* Walk door to door with literature and talk to your neighbors?

* Put a yard sign in your yard showing why we need to vote FOR QUESTION A?

* Host a coffee at your house to tell friends and neighbors the reason that Russett must be heard and support Question A?

We are less than 50 days to the election. The time to act is now.

Want to volunteer and help us? Email us at notinrussett@gmail.com

Click the image below to view the letter (PDF format)

The Capital: Hometown Annapolis 11/13/09