If Fairfax County had been to get a on line casino, state Sen. Dave Marsden would like to see it in Tysons, not Reston, as has reportedly been proposed.

The prospect of a on line casino has drawn sturdy pushback from each residents and a few elected officials, however Marsden argues that the county wants to think about all choices to diversify its business tax base, because the workplace market continues to lag within the pandemic’s wake.

While Tysons has gotten more residents over the previous decade, the world’s usually business make-up and 4 Metro stations would make it “the ideal place” for an leisure district that might embrace a on line casino, Marsden says.

“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,” the senator advised FFXnow. “…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: high-rise apartments and office buildings and what have you.”

Marsden, who represents elements of Burke, Centreville and Annandale within the thirty seventh Senate District, and Del. Wren Williams (R-9) filed identical bills in January that will’ve added Fairfax County to the small list of Virginia localities licensed to think about internet hosting a on line casino.

Though the laws was shortly withdrawn, the topic reemerged late final month when Patch reported that the developer Comstock hopes to construct a on line casino close to the Wiehle-Reston East Metro station, the place it has been constructing the huge Reston Station neighborhood.

A member of the Senate finance committee, Marsden confirmed to FFXnow that he met with Comstock twice — as soon as whereas drafting his original bill and as soon as since then. He says he in any other case hasn’t been approached by anybody a couple of on line casino in Tysons or anyplace else in Fairfax County.

Comstock doesn’t have any properties in Tysons proper now, however it pitched a redevelopment of the Koons auto dealerships at 2000 and 2050 Chain Bridge Road final 12 months as a part of the county’s site-specific plan amendment (SSPA) course of. The nomination didn’t advance after county employees determined a complete plan change isn’t obligatory to permit mixed-use growth on the location.

The developer — which donated $10,000 to Marsden’s reelection marketing campaign on June 22, per the Virginia Public Access Project — didn’t return a number of requests for remark.

Marsden says he’s “certainly very strongly looking at” re-introducing the on line casino invoice within the 2024 General Assembly session if he wins the election for the newly created 35th District, although it doubtless received’t be equivalent to the one launched this 12 months.

“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,” he stated.

He stresses that the purpose of the invoice isn’t to impose a on line casino on the county, however fairly, to offer the county an possibility that’s at the moment off limits.

As a Dillon Rule state, Virginia localities solely have the powers explicitly granted to them by the General Assembly, an method that Fairfax County officers argue limits their skill to do every little thing from exploring different revenue sources to lowering speed limits on harmful roads.

If Marsden’s invoice will get adopted by the General Assembly, the county could be required to carry a referendum asking voters whether or not a on line casino must be permitted.

“[Comstock’s] idea for an entertainment district, I think, is a reasonable idea that the county needs to consider,” Marsden stated. “Ultimately speaking, 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.”

Tysons elected officers and candidates weigh in

While some Reston representatives, together with Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn and retiring Del. Ken Plum, have expressed vocal opposition to the opportunity of a Silver Line on line casino, Tysons space officers contacted by FFXnow principally supplied extra circumspect responses.

Echoing earlier comments, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay stated he “would strongly oppose any legislation” stripping the county’s land use authority, however declined to take a place on the thought of a on line casino.

“There has been no casino proposal submitted to the County, therefore there is nothing to take a position on,” McKay stated in an announcement. “…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 contains most of Tysons, stated she’s open to discussing any proposal that comes into her workplace, however is “awfully skeptical” this one will come to go.

“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,” Palchik stated by e mail.

With Tysons’ present senator, Janet Howell, not seeking reelection, the world might be represented subsequent 12 months by both Democrat Saddam Azlan Salim or Republican Ken Reid, who’re vying to succeed Sen. Chap Petersen within the redrawn 37th District.

Salim’s marketing campaign stated he hasn’t taken an official place on a Fairfax County on line casino, however the monetary advisor is “listening and talking to constituents about the issue.”

“It’s important that the people of the 37th district have an opportunity to have dialogue with their candidates for elected office and make their views known, so that’s what Saddam Salim is focused on right now,” a spokesperson for Salim’s marketing campaign stated.

Reid, a former Loudoun County supervisor, took a extra definitive stance.

“I don’t see a need for casinos anywhere in Fairfax County as there are so many cost-of-living and quality-of-life problems that one-party Democrat rule has failed to address,” he stated, citing “exorbitant” freeway tolls, an absence of reasonably priced housing, crime and excessive taxes among the many points he feels have gone unaddressed.

The Virginia Lottery reported this summer season that preliminary income from playing on the state’s three opened casinos has exceeded projections, collectively producing $308 million by the tip of June. Marsden says the ensuing tax income might assist Fairfax County deal with wants, equivalent to colleges or Metro funding, with out additional burdening the residential real estate tax base.

“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,” Marsden stated. “And 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.”

While it had no remark particularly on a on line casino, the Tysons Community Alliance says leisure “is an important part of the Tysons community dialogue about the future of visitation and hospitality in Tysons.”

A market study that the group enchancment group launched in August steered extra “experiential entertainment,” equivalent to climbing gyms or The Boro’s upcoming Sandbox VR gaming facility, might assist its retail sector compete within the post-pandemic world.

“The success of our Tysons Fall Mixed Market is a clear indication that local residents are interested in and seeking more experiential entertainment,” TCA CEO Katie Cristol stated by e mail. “We also are collectively focused on the recovery of the hotel market here; given the slow return of business travel, that means supporting more leisure trips and supporting Tysons as a hospitality destination for entertainment, too.”