A proposal that would’ve established zoning rules for casinos is expected to be withdrawn when it goes before the Herndon Town Council later this month.
The Herndon Planning Commission indicated at a work session on Monday (May 4) that it will recommend denial of the zoning ordinance amendment, which defined a casino and set parameters for how one could be approved, Mayor Keven LeBlanc confirmed to FFXnow and other outlets, including Patch.
The planning commission will still hold a public hearing on the amendment at its next meeting on May 18 in order to officially issue its recommendation and send the issue to the town council, which can then nix the proposal at its May 26 meeting.
LeBlanc explained that those steps are procedural formalities at this point after Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger vetoed legislation on April 9 that would’ve added Fairfax County to the state’s list of localities eligible to host a casino.
“Because [the proposed ordinance] was initiated by council … I couldn’t just pull it off of the docket from the planning commission,” the Herndon mayor told FFXnow. “What we could do was tell the planning commission, ‘Hey, this is overcome by events. The governor vetoed, we no longer need to do this.’ So, they could recommend denial of the code change.”
The Herndon Town Council had directed staff to craft a zoning amendment for casinos on March 24 in response to the Virginia General Assembly’s passage of Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell’s (D-34) SB 756 on March 14, the last day of its regular session. At that time, it remained unclear whether Spanberger would sign, veto or amend the bill.
The bill included criteria that would’ve limited potential casino sites to somewhere along the Metro Silver Line in Tysons outside the Capital Beltway (I-495), so there were no actual discussions of allowing an establishment in Herndon.
However, town leaders “wanted extra protection” and asked staff to amend the town code “to expressly prohibit the use of a casino,” LeBlanc says.
“What came before the planning commission, while it was a little different than what council expected, the intent was still to prohibit casinos in the town,” LeBlanc said. “We were never entertaining [or] trying to attract or allow a casino in the town limits.”
According to the mayor, town staff determined that, instead of outright banning casinos, it would be preferable to define a casino and set zoning criteria for a development that likely can’t be met.
The proposed amendment would’ve required a casino to be part of a mixed-use development with at least the following elements:
- A hotel with at least 225 guest rooms
- A minimum of 34,000 square feet of retail space
- A minimum of 11,000 square feet of conference or ballroom space
- A minimum of 20,000 square feet of retail grocery
The establishment would be allowed as an indoor entertainment use in the town’s Planned Development transit-oriented core district (PD-TOC), which aligns with the approximately 38-acre Herndon Transit-Oriented Core immediately north of the Herndon Metro station along Herndon Parkway.
Approvals of the development plan and a special exception would also be required, processes that involve public hearings and final decisions by the Herndon Town Council.
While the state casino bill is dead for now, Surovell, who represents southeastern Fairfax County, has indicated that he intends to bring it back in the future.
