Stop Slots at Arundel Mills

Why Video Lottery Facilities (Slots Casinos) should not be developed at Arundel Mills:

1. There is legal precedence within the State of Maryland for ensuring that Slots Facilities are not close to residential neighborhoods

The State of Maryland has provided for protections of the residents of Baltimore City by prohibiting the placement of a casino within 1/4 of a mile of a residentially zoned property. Pennsylvania introduced similar legislation for the protection of its residents as well. The proposed Anne Arundel County legislation does not provide similar protection for the residents of Anne Arundel County who are part of the State of Maryland. We believe that the proposed legislation should be consistent with the Maryland State protections given to Baltimore City and prohibit placement of slots facilities within a ¼ mile of a residentially zoned property. The State recognizes that placement of a video lottery facility within close proximity to a residential neighborhood is counterproductive to maintaining quality, family-centered communities for their citizens. In addition, signed covenants established between the Villages of Dorchester, Arundel Preserve and Arundel Mills Mall specify the types of development permitted in the area. These covenants should be reviewed and honored by the County Council. We believe that the Anne Arundel County Council should enact zoning ordinances that take into account the precedence set by State law and honor local covenants by not allowing the development of a slots facility so near to residentially zoned communities.

2. Unsafe traffic patterns would rise as a result of the increased vehicular traffic to and from the proposed video slots facility.

The slots bidder is proposing that a facility housing 4,750 slot machines at Arundel Mills be open everyday from 6:00am to 2:00am. The sheer size of the facility and the fact that it will be open everyday for 20 hours per day will greatly increase the amount of traffic on the one-lane and two-lane roads in the communities closely surrounding Arundel Mills. In fact, the bidder estimates that approximately 12,000 people will visit the proposed facility at Arundel Mills daily, a 31% increase over the current number of total visitors to Arundel Mills.  In addition to this proposed development, the movement of 22,000 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) related jobs to this area will also lead to an increase in traffic in our area. There are also a number of additional projects in various phases of development (see related links page for a sample of these projects). To date, there has been no formal State Highway Administration (or Anne Arundel County) traffic study to assess the traffic, noise, and pollution impact to the community of all of these current or proposed developments; as well as what kind of road improvements and other infrastructure developments would be needed to adequately accommodate a slots facility of this size. It is imperative that the State Highway Administration complete a full traffic study, with adequate public hearings, to determine the impact that the proposed slots facility, as well as the realignment of 22,000 Department of Defense jobs, will have on our community infrastructure. It would also be our expectation that all recommended improvements be implemented prior to the opening of any large Slots Facility like the one being proposed by the bidder.

Update: A January 2009 Maryland State Highway Administration Traffic Study on BRAC shows that two of the intersections on Arundel Mills Boulevard are failing TODAY!

3. Crime increases in communities that host regional casinos / slots facilities.

In the bidder's Arundel Mills Casino Fact Sheet they site research conducted by Harvard University that indicates crime goes down in counties with casinos and home values increase. It is important to know that this research was supported by the National Center for Responsible Gaming (NCRG) which is funded through many private gaming companies like Harrah's and MGM. Other studies on the social impacts of casinos tell a very different story:

• The effect on crime is low shortly after a casino opens, and grows over time. Roughly 8 percent of crime in counties with casinos was attributed to the casinos themselves (Grinols & Mustard, 2004)
• Regional gaming facilities (like the one proposed for Arundel Mills) versus national destination / resort casinos fail a cost-benefit test, that is the costs outweigh the benefits gained. For every $1 gained in tax revenue, it is estimated that $3 in public expenditures are incurred for direct regulatory costs, increased crime prevention efforts, increased unemployment compensation, increased bankruptcy filings, mental illness treatment, and increased services for abused or neglected children.

Furthermore, Anne Arundel County’s Joint Executive-Legislative Task Force requested that the Attorney General study the issue of crime and casinos. The report clearly concluded that casino gaming would significantly increase crime in Maryland. The report found that there would be more violent crime, more crimes against property, more insurance fraud, more white collar crime, more juvenile crime, more drug and alcohol-related crime, more domestic violence and child abuse, and more organized crime (Curran, 1995)

4) Even some current slots supporters previously acknowledged their evils.

Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold signed a pledge to oppose slots before changing his position! He previously acknowledged a link between gambling and political corruption, but now he says "there are 30 million good reasons" to pass a slots bill. Here is one number the supporters of slots will not cite; There are at least 6 registered lobbyists now working hard to try and pass legislation despite the true 'will of the people.'

Picture of tot lot with the Arundel Mills Mall in the background.

Tot lots and Slots don't Mix!