Norfolk still plans to play host to a major casino resort run by the Pamunkey Indian Tribe. But the City Council decided officially Tuesday it won’t be on tribal land — a key distinction that means the city will be able to collect tax revenue from the development.
The council rescinded a previously approved deal with the tribe that would have let the Pamunkeys keep getting city police, fire and utility service at the site even after turning it into sovereign tribal territory.
The prospect of Norfolk losing control of 13.25 acres of waterfront land downtown helped fuel the backlash against the casino effort last year.
Tuesday’s move makes official an understanding the tribe and city had reached in December: that the tribe will still build a casino in downtown Norfolk, but it will be commercial, meaning the Pamunkeys will be treated like any other property owner.
In public comments months ago, both representatives of the city and the tribe had said a commercial venture makes the most sense.
Opponents had repeatedly raised concerns about Norfolk losing control of the land for good under the tribal option, hindering the city’s ability to develop a prime piece of waterfront land were the casino to go bust.
And under the tribal route, the Pamunkey would pay no taxes to the city, writing a check for a negotiated annual payment instead.
Those concerns, coupled with other anti-casino sentiment and concerns about the process and transparency of the deal, led to two petition drives seeking to undo it, public hearings and, eventually, this agreement with the tribe.
The Pamunkey Tribe, with backing from Tennessee billionaire Jon Yarbrough, first unveiled the Norfolk casino concept at the end of 2018, advertising a massive $750 million waterfront complex with a hotel, restaurants and an entertainment venue alongside the casino itself. Two years and a major legislative battle later, potential competitors have cropped up in four other Virginia cities — the tribe itself rolled out plans for a second casino in Richmond — and the tribe scaled back its Norfolk plans.
City officials expected a more modest $375 million casino complex, though they mentioned at Tuesday’s council meeting that the tribe has now said it expects to build a $500 million complex.
Along with spiking the deal that would have let a tribal option move forward, the Norfolk council also passed a measure Tuesday naming the Pamunkey Tribe its preferred operator for a commercial casino. That’s a formal step required under the state legislation that legalized casinos.
Portsmouth’s City Council also approved a measure to name a preferred casino operator in that city: Rush Street Gaming. Portsmouth announced late last year the Chicago firm was ready to move forward on a competing casino project on a 50-acre lot near Portsmouth’s Tidewater Community College campus.
But there’s one more hurdle for both projects to clear before they can break ground: Under the General Assembly’s approval to build casinos in five Virginia cities, the voters of each city must decide this November whether they’re OK with a casino moving into the neighborhood.
Ryan Murphy, 757-739-8582, ryan.murphy@pilotonline.com
