Wednesday was a “huge milestone” for the proposed Mason Dixon Resort & Casino project in Cumberland Township, as investor David LeVan officially submitted his application for the state’s lone remaining slots resort license.
LeVan and business partner Joseph Lashinger are looking to convert 72,000 square feet of space at the Eisenhower Inn and All-Star Sports Complex along Business 15 near Gettysburg into a gaming resort, and they have the 100-acre site under a purchase-option through 2012.
“The filing of the application today is a huge milestone. Make no mistake about that,” LeVan told broadcaster Fred Snyder on 1320 WGET. But LeVan noted that it’s “just the beginning” of a “much longer” review process by the state’s Gaming Control Board.
The gaming board has no timetable for awarding the final license, following Wednesday’s application deadline. It is believed that four groups have submitted applications, including Mason Dixon, the Nemacolin Resort in western Pennsylvania, the Crowne Reading Plaza in Wyomissing, and the Fernwood Resort in the Poconos.
Sources say Penn National Gaming, operator of Dauphin
County’s Hollywood Casino, is the proposed operator for Mason Dixon.
LeVan was asked Wednesday if he was disappointed in the lack of support from area lawmakers. Legislators in western Pennsylvania are speaking favorably about the Nemacolin project, while lawmakers here — such as state Rep. Dan Moul and Senator Richard Alloway — are remaining tight-lipped about an Adams County casino.
“Of course I’m disappointed,” said LeVan. “But I am also sensitive and understand their position. Dan and Rich are listening to their constituents,” said LeVan, noting that while 62 percent of county residents polled in a recent survey support the project, more than 30 percent opposed the project.
LeVan believes that his group is in “much better position this time than we were during any of our previous” gaming attempts. In 2005-06, LeVan’s “Crossroads Gaming Resort” in Straban Township was rejected by the state, because of opposition and revenue concerns, while his overtures with the Harness Racing Commission in 2007-08 were unable to gain momentum.
LeVan clarified confusion over Mason Dixon Resort job data Wednesday, referencing a recent economic impact study predicting that the project will create 900 new “direct and indirect” jobs. “We’re looking at new jobs…at the resort itself…of something just slightly less than 400,” explained LeVan. “The other numbers that were included in that are part-time jobs during the construction period, as well as jobs that come from other businesses that are going to serve this facility.”
Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell has stated that the Mason Dixon project is “less objectionable” than the Crossroads proposal, because it is closer to Maryland and farther away from Gettysburg. Likewise, Gettysburg Battlefield Supt. Bob Kirby has said that the project will have “no direct impact” on the park’s resources, even though the hotel sits just a half-mile away from park boundaries.
While LeVan agreed that “it’s a better location” for a casino, he explained that “we didn’t select this location based on any of that criteria.” Instead, Levan pointed to the provisions outlined in the state’s six-year-old gaming law, for Category Three licenses. “It had to be an existing resort, and it had to exist at the time the original gaming bill was passed, back in July of 2004,” said LeVan, explaining that qualifying hotels must have at least 275 rooms, and offer other resort amenities. The Eisenhower Inn has 307 guest rooms, plus recreational attractions.
“The Eisenhower Inn and All Star Complex is really the only facility that meets the criteria in Adams County, and in fact, it’s one of the very few resorts that meets the criteria in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” said LeVan.
He defended a traffic study completed by York-based TRG, concluding that minimal improvements are needed along Emmitsburg Road-Business 15 as a result of the casino. Critics have argued that the study was performed in January-March, during the non-tourist season, when traffic is light.
But LeVan noted that his group was unable to perform a traffic study in the summer months, since the gaming application process reopened “in early January when the governor signed the bill,” authorizing table games. His group had 90 days to finalize a traffic study, as well as other reports by April 7, so traffic engineers utilized “accepted methodologies to convert traffic results” to peak periods, approved by the state’s Dept. of Transportation.
The Battlefield Harley Davidson co-owner also touted the background of Dr. G. Terry Madonna, a nationally-recognized pollster commissioned by Mason Dixon to gauge support for the project. Data released last month showed that 62 percent of 600 local residents surveyed support the casino.
“One of the things that we took into consideration in selecting (Madonna’s agency) was their reputation and their independence, because we knew their independence would come under challenge,” said LeVan. “I would suggest that there is nobody that is more independent or more qualified to do the kind of poll that we wanted done than Terry Madonna,” Levan finished. “He would not have compromised his reputation on a single study for us.”
LeVan and Lashinger paid a $5 million licensing fee Wednesday, compared to the $50 million LeVan paid in 2005-06, when he applied for a Category Two, stand-alone slots parlor license. The Mason Dixon project is much smaller than the Crossroads proposal: instead of 5,000 slot machines, Category Three licenses permit only 600 machines, with 50 table games.
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