Ruling clears way again for Richmond casino referendum

A Richmond Circuit Court judge issued another ruling Wednesday clearing the way for a Richmond casino referendum to appear on ballots this November.

Richmond Circuit Court Judge W. Reilly Marchant ruled against the Richmond Lodge No. 1 of the Good Lions Inc., a nonprofit organization that had filed a motion to block the casino vote. The Good Lions’ Richmond lodge, which raises money through charitable bingo games held twice weekly, claimed that the Richmond City Council had not run a competitive bidding process before voting in June to select RVA Entertainment Holdings LLC — a joint venture between Urban One Inc. and Churchill Downs Inc. — as the city’s preferred casino operator. If approved by voters, the two would establish the $562.5 million ONE Casino + Resort in South Richmond.

The group also said that it stands to lose charitable income if the casino is built. Richmond City Council, in turn, argued that the Good Lions “lacks standing because it does not, and cannot, assert any claim or defense that is germane to this proceeding.”

On Aug. 15, Marchant, who had ruled July 25 to place the referendum on ballots, placed an emergency suspension of the earlier order while he considered the Good Lions’ motions to intervene and reconsider. He gave the city and the Good Lions three days to support their positions and said he would rule Wednesday.

In the order, Marchant wrote that the Good Lions does not have standing to intervene. “Arguably, Good Lions’ alleged future loss of gaming revenue might be fairly traceable to the 2019 legislation of the Virginia General Assembly allowing casino gambling, but that government action is not what Good Lions seeks to challenge. … Good Lions’ challenge to the City Council’s no bid/no notice process for selecting an operator of the casino, where Good Lions does not seek to be the operator, is not a challenge of government action fairly traceable to its expected loss of revenue,” he concluded.

Chap Petersen, a Fairfax County state senator and lawyer for the Good Lions, said after the ruling that he was disappointed in the decision and that the judge “took a very narrow view” by basing part of the ruling on the fact that Good Lions wasn’t a “frustrated bidder” for the casino project, which was defeated by 1,200 votes in 2021. Urban One, which previously partnered with Colonial Downs owner Peninsula Pacific Entertainment, was selected earlier in 2021 from a group of casino operator candidates.

Churchill Downs, which owns the Kentucky Derby, purchased Peninsula Pacific in November 2022 and became Urban One’s new partner in the group’s second bid for a Richmond casino — but there was no public call for proposals this time around before the City Council vote in June.

“You have the exact same vendor being put on the ballot without a competitive bidding process. The whole thing is very irregular,” said Petersen, who added that although he could appeal the decision, “time is very short.”

Michael Kelly, spokesman for the proposed casino project, said in a statement Wednesday, “We’re glad this matter is now resolved. This resort and entertainment complex will be one of the largest private sector investments in the City of Richmond in decades, creating 1,300 good-paying jobs and $30 million in annual tax revenue to invest in a stronger city, all without a single penny of tax breaks, incentives or public funds. We look forward to sharing our vision for the project and the many citywide benefits it will deliver for all Richmonders.”

“I am pleased to see Judge Marchant rule in favor of the City of Richmond,” Mayor Levar Stoney, a major proponent of the casino, added in his statement. “If approved this November, the proposed destination resort and casino will provide 1,300 good-paying jobs and an estimated $30 million in annual revenue to tackle our community’s greatest needs. On top of adding to Richmond’s record development and growth, this project will change the economic trajectory of South Side [Richmond] for years to come.”

Richmond is the last of five economically challenged Virginia cities to vote on a casino referendum after the Virginia General Assembly allowed Bristol, Danville, Norfolk, Portsmouth and Richmond to have one commercial casino per locality if approved by local voters. The other four cities passed referendums by large margins in 2020. Portsmouth is the first city to open its permanent casino, and Bristol and Danville have opened temporary casinos while construction of permanent casino resorts take place.