THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 7, 1996 TAG: 9601070072
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TONI WHITT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Long : 115 lines
An off-track betting parlor set to begin operations later this month in Deep Creek may be shut down before its grand opening.
While legislators and a competitor are erecting hurdles for the project, officials with Colonial Downs are going ahead with construction on the former Earle's Supermarket building at Military and George Washington highways.
Colonial Downs, the group that plans to build a horse-racing track in New Kent County, has received a license to open the off-track betting site in Chesapeake. The parlor would include an upscale restaurant, a sports bar, betting stations and 150 televisions for simulcast races from around the country and other televised sports.
The Virginia Jockey Club has filed a lawsuit contesting the track and betting licenses that the Virginia Racing Commission awarded to Colonial Downs. A judge is supposed to hear the appeal in early February - after the betting parlor is scheduled to open.
In the meantime, legislators are threatening to rescind the licenses for the off-track betting parlors if Colonial Downs doesn't agree to build its permanent track immediately.
Construction on the track in New Kent County has been stalled because of the lawsuit, said Brett Stansley, Executive Vice President for Colonial Downs.
But he added the track would be built within a year after the lawsuit is settled.
Stansley said going ahead with the project while the lawsuit is pending is risky, but, he added, the operators want to begin building up the racing industry here.
``We are doing everything we can to promote the horse industry and to start building purse accounts for this state to draw quality horses,'' Stansley said. The off-track parlor will cost the group an estimated $1 million.
State Sen. Kenneth W. Stolle, R-Virginia Beach, said the gambling parlor may never open if the General Assembly doesn't get guarantees that live horse racing will begin this summer in a permanent stadium. Stolle and Del. Glenn R. Croshaw, D-Virginia Beach, sponsored a bill during the last General Assembly session requiring that live racing begin one year after the license for an off-track betting parlor is issued.
Both legislators had backed a Virginia Beach proposal to build the state's only track there in partnership with Churchill Downs.
Track operators and the Virginia Racing Commission interpreted that to mean they could have ``tent racing'' where they would set up a temporary track and have tents outside, rather than a grandstand.
Stolle said the intent of his bill was to have a permanent track built by Aug. 15.
``They think they can comply with a tent race - that they could come in and put down a temporary track, but no stadium et cetera,'' Stolle said. ``The original application (from Colonial Downs) said this is the type of track we're going to build. They have to measure up to their own standard.''
Stolle said he will introduce legislation that prohibits all off-track betting parlors until after the track is constructed if the racing commission and track operators don't agree to build the track as described in their application.
``As of today, I haven't received a guarantee that they're (the racing commission) not going to allow tent racing,'' Stolle said. ``I'm going to offer legislation by the first day to say no off-track betting sites until the track is complete.''
Stolle said the new bill would revoke all licenses already issued and wouldn't allow any other licenses until the track is completed.
The Virginia Racing Commission issued a second license for an off-track betting parlor in Richmond last month. Don Price, executive director of the commission, said that facility is scheduled to open in March.
He said the lawsuit is the crux of most of the track operators' problems. Price said it's a huge gamble for Colonial Downs to build the permanent track before the lawsuit is settled. Price said he would favor legislation that would take the lawsuit into consideration and give the track operators additional construction time.
``We don't know what the final ruling will mean,'' Price said. ``It has been indicated that, if we should prevail, the Virginia Jockey Club will appeal to the State Supreme Court. How long that will take? Who knows. In some respects everyone is between a rock and a hard spot.''
But Stolle said to go ahead with the off-track betting parlors without beginning construction on the track is in direct conflict with the original concept for Virginia horse racing.
``It's not only premature, it's in violation of the law that they agreed to a year ago,'' Stolle said. ``If I can't trust the racing commission to implement a law that they agreed to, I can't trust them for anything. To say they've complied with technical aspects is wrong. That's not going to stand.''
Stolle said he is meeting with Arnold Stansley on Tuesday to discuss whether operators will guarantee the opening the permanent track in August. If Stansley can satisfy him, Stolle said, he may hold off on introducing the new legislation.
Stolle said the state never really wanted off-track betting parlors but found that they were a ``necessary evil'' to making a horse track viable.
``Now we're ending up with something backwards from what we planned in the beginning,'' Stolle said. ``The only thing we have now is off-track betting .
``Let's not get the cart out there before we have any horses,'' Stolle said. ``Once we start running races, then let's start putting in the off-track betting parlors. Very little of the off-track money will stay in Virginia anyway.''
The off-track sites are mandated to pay a percentage of its winnings to the state and a percentage to localities, and to set aside a certain amount for the ``purse'' or prize amounts for winning horses in future live races, Price said. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
State Sen. Kenneth W. Stolle, R-Va. Beach, says he will introduce
legislation that prohibits all off-track betting parlors until after
the racetrack is constructed. The legislation would be introduced if
the racing operators don't agree to build the track as described in
their application.
by CNB