Norfolk’s Planning Commission has given a thumbs-up to the city’s long-awaited casino project, recommending the City Council give final approval to the development likely at a meeting in October.
But the backing didn’t come without questions.
Commission Chairman Kevin Murphy asked why the plan allowed for indoor smoking and the sale of tobacco products, noting that indoor smoking bans are in effect for virtually all other Norfolk businesses.
“I was very disappointed to see you were planning to allow smoking when the previous operator had agreed not to allow smoking in the casino, and that was a great way to distinguish the Norfolk casino as a non-smoking casino,” Murphy said.
Murphy, who also raised concerns about traffic, was the sole vote against recommending the development certificate.
Commissioner Kim Sudderth said she was still worried about safety around the casino and a seeming lack of consideration from the developers as she cast her vote to support it.
And another commissioner, Jeremy McGee, raised concerns about a litany of unaddressed questions about details of the casino’s design that came from the casino’s Architectural Review Board hearing earlier this week.
The ARB also recommended approval, but said it needed to review a long list of design elements, including lighting, signage, landscaping and more as the development’s design progresses.
“I think there’s just too many open issues here and I wish the ARB would have addressed those before moving it forward,” McGee said.
A timeline submitted to the city says the casino will initially open in a temporary building next to Harbor Park in late 2025, with construction on the full hotel and casino complex finished in September 2027.
Latest design leaves concerns
The Pamunkey Indian Tribe first announced it intended to build a casino in Norfolk in 2018, which spurred the General Assembly to legalize casinos for the first time and authorizing development in several cities around the state.
Since then, the Pamunkey’s project has languished as several others moved ahead. Portsmouth’s Rivers Casino opened almost two years ago. Two more permanent casinos are set to open in the western part of the state later this year.
Years went by with the Pamunkey occasionally offering new casino plans, only to have them criticized by city leaders and withdrawn. No explanations were offered for the delays.
As time went on, the project’s scope shrunk.
Original plans imagined as a soaring $700 million project with 500 hotel rooms and up to 4,500 slot machines
Earlier this month, the Pamunkey officially brought in one of the nation’s largest casino operators to help get the project moving again. The plans how show a $500 million development with 200 hotel rooms and 1,500 slots.
Other community concerns have persisted with the latest designs.
Representatives from the Cape Henry Audubon Society have spoken at multiple ARB meetings to flag concerns over the threat to birds the current glass tower design poses.
And the Elizabeth River Trail Foundation, which runs along the casino property, says the last time it spoke with anyone involved in the casino was March 2022, according to a letter addressed to Norfolk’s Architectural Review Board.
The plan currently includes developing a new segment of the Elizabeth River Trail following the river along the top of the city’s proposed flood wall, which will separate the casino from the water.
Right now, the trail follows Park Avenue. Kindra Green, the ERT Foundation’s executive director, wrote that the group is worried about how the development will pan out and how the ERT will be impacted during construction.
“Our concerns for safety and open accessibility remain,” Green wrote.
A representative from the development group said the development group plans to reach out to the ERT Foundation in the coming weeks.
