Casino Bill Opposed By Greater Tysons Citizens Coalition: Letter

MCLEAN, VA — Sally Horn, chair of the Greater Tysons Citizens Coalition, sent this letter Thursday morning to members of the Virginia Senate, expressing GTCC's opposition to Senate Bill 675, which would pave the way for a casino to be built in Tysons. the Senate Resources Subcommittee is scheduled to review the bill at 4 p.m., on Thursday.

Dear Senators,

I am writing on behalf of the Greater Tysons Citizens Coalition (GTCC), a coalition of some 50 individuals and organizations in and around Tysons Corner that since 2008 has been monitoring the progress of Tysons toward and advocating for a family-friendly, vibrant community where people want to work, live raise families and retire, and where corporations and local entrepreneurs want to establish businesses and can thrive. Our goals also include promoting, supporting and ensuring that the public infrastructure supports Tysons and the surrounding communities. We are very proud of how Tysons has grown and strong promoters of its continued development.

We understand that last night, consideration of SB 675 was referred to the Resources Subcommittee of the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee and removed from consideration by the Senate Subcommittee on Economic Development and Natural Resources to which it previously was referred. We strongly oppose SB 675 and urge your subcommittee to veto it.

To reiterate and add to some of the key points that we made in our January 25, 2024 email to the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee and its Subcommittee on Economic Development and Natural Resources to which this bill was initially referred by the full committee:

• Unlike other jurisdictions in Virginia, neither our Elected County officials nor our residents requested authority for a casino. To the best of our knowledge, this bill would set a precedent.
• A casino in Tysons would have substantial harmful effects on the quality of life in Tysons. Tysons currently is a family-friendly environment, with a growing residential base, parks, shopping, and recreation; a casino does not complement this mix.
• The potential of a casino to increase crime, depress property values, create higher social costs and add significant traffic congestion would negatively impact Tysons’s ability to attract new housing construction and commercial projects.
• Small businesses in and around Tysons already have expressed their concern to the GTCC leadership that a casino in Tysons would be damaging to them economically.
• According to a report issued by the National Association of Realtors, the impact on home values in an urban environment where a casino is built appears to be unambiguously negative. The Report states that home values can decrease by as much as 4 to 10 percent.
• In the research undertaken by our members about the impacts of casinos on communities, our members were unable to identify any proposal anywhere that would allow a casino to be built next door to office buildings, apartments, condos similar to what is being proposed. In this regard, we would note that there are existing and planned office buildings, apartments and condos within as little as ¼ mile of the proposed site. Further, there are a significant number of schools close by.
• A casino would have similar adverse effects on the quality of life and economic vitality of the surrounding communities to those identified above for Tysons.
• A vast majority of Fairfax County residents do not want a casino in the County. This is a position that they have arrived at without outside influence from, e.g., MGM or other casino lobbyists.
• A casino will not bring significant amounts of money to Fairfax. While it has been suggested by Senator Marsden that the total revenue "take" for Virginia would be $200M, under the relevant State formula for revenue sharing, at most $40M would come to Fairfax. This amount is too small to fix Fairfax County’s current revenue challenges.

Please do NOT waste Fairfax County's time and resources by passing SB 675. The voters of Fairfax County did not ask for this.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Sally Horn
Chair, Greater Tysons Citizens Coalition