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Local casino again in fold?

Saturday, 09 February 2013 20:59 administrator
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Local casino again in fold? David LeVan, in front of Battlefield Harley in 2010. Reports say LeVan might be working toward new plans to build a casino closer to Hanover. (THE EVENING SUN -- FILE)
The slow pace of action on a casino and racetrack project near Pittsburgh is again raising questions over a possible attempt to bring a casino to the area. A previous effort to build the Mason-Dixon Resort & Casino less than a mile away from the Gettysburg National Military Park sparked a great deal of local controversy and eventually failed in 2011. Now, Gettysburg businessman David LeVan might be working toward new plans to build a casino closer to Hanover. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported earlier this month that LeVan is renewing lobbying efforts to convince the state Legislature to reopen the competition for the Valley View Downs harness racing license, or to detach the casino license from the racetrack rights. Although LeVan did not respond to repeated calls for comment from The Evening Sun, a reporter from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Bill Toland, said his sources revealed that LeVan is planning to build a casino, "farther away from Gettysburg, toward Hanover." LeVan was involved in the 2011 Mason-Dixon casino effort - which would have been built at the Eisenhower Inn and Conference Center - as well as two other failed casino proposals near Gettysburg. One of those efforts, in 2008, was an attempt to secure the same license issued to Valley View Downs. LeVan never detailed his proposal, which included a horse-racing track as well as a casino, but said at the time he was eyeing a property farther from Gettysburg, and in Adams County near the Mason-Dixon line. The state at the time decided not to reopen the license for competition. LeVan has made no secret he could bring additional proposals for casino in the area. After he and business partner Joseph Lashinger Jr. lost their 2011 bid for the state's last available resort casino license, LeVan filed suit to leave the partnership, which had appealed the Gaming Control Board's decision to the state Supreme Court. LeVan, in a letter written by his attorney and filed in Adams County court as part of the proceedings, acknowledged a "desire to pursue the acquisition, development, management, or operation of a new casino or gaming project in Adams County, Pennsylvania." Any exact location LeVan might be eyeing for a new proposal has not been publicly disclosed. For some casino-wary locals, however, the lack of details is the trouble. "Depending on where the project would be located affects if there will be opposition," said Susan Star Paddock, of the citizens' group, No Casino Gettysburg. "Proximity to the battlefield is the primary issue." In the past, No Casino Gettysburg has recommended a 10-mile casino-free buffer surrounding the Gettysburg battlefield, a position that it still maintains today. The options to build a casino anywhere in the state, however, are extremely limited because no casino licenses are available at this time. The only option at the moment would be to push for the state Legislature to reopen the competition for a harness racing license that has long been promised to the Valley View Downs casino and racetrack in Lawrence County. A series of plans for Valley View Downs have been tried over the past 11 years, and ultimately have failed. Most recently, in October, the state Harness Racing Commission approved the transfer of Valley View Downs ownership stock to a new owner, Philadelphia-based Endeka, in the hopes that Endeka would finally be able to finance the long-awaited project. At the time, the commission gave Endeka 30 days to apply for a gaming license and to put together its financing equipment. It was not able to meet that deadline and has since been awarded two extensions, with the next deadline coming up on March 14. All of this delay has fueled LeVan's new efforts to lobby the commission to release the Valley View Downs license to new competition or to detach the casino from the racetrack license, as reported by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The release of the Valley View Downs license might not be politically likely right now, said state Sen. Richard Alloway, R-Chambersburg. Alloway did not have any additional information about the future of the Valley View Downs license, but he did say that, "legislators are not itching to get back into the gambling fray right now." However, he did add that, "the fact that this project has been kicked down the road for 11 years is ridiculous." Alloway explained that while he does not want to infringe upon the Harness Racing Commission's business, he does not feel that allowing casino projects to sit idle for so long is fair to the taxpayers who were promised property tax relief in exchange for gaming licenses. When former Gov. Ed Rendell first signed legislation in 2004 expanding gaming in the state to include 14 casinos, he did so with the promise that revenue from the slot machines would eventually fund a $1 billion property tax relief fund. He anticipated that these revenues would be used to reduce the average homeowner's property tax by about $333. In the fiscal year 2012-13, the most recent year that these numbers are available, slot machine revenues fell more than $217 million short of that goal, according to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. This only reduced the average Pennsylvanian's property taxes by about $200. Property tax revenues have fallen short of expectations, said Alloway, because all of the state's casino licenses are not currently held by operating casinos. In the fiscal year 2013-2013, only 11 of the 14 promised casinos were open for business. "Whether you're for or against gambling," Alloway said, "it's there so it might as well be in use."

Read more http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNHKCsEgeHJHcihBMxFdAmx_9ufYhA&url=http://www.eveningsun.com/news/ci_22555694/local-casino-again-fold

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