Original | Dumfries approves gaming parlor, $100K road money cut from deal

In an about-face, the Dumfries Town Council voted to approve a conditional use permit clearing the way for a new gaming parlor to open in the town.

The Town Council voted 5-3 Tuesday night in favor of allowing the Rosie’s, a pari-mutuel off-track betting parlor, to open in Triangle Shopping Center, located in the heart of town.

None of the details about the facility has changed. It will still have 150 gaming terminals, a bar, food, and will be open 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and until 4 a.m. Friday and Saturday.

What did change? The council agreed to remove one of the conditions for the permit that required Colonial Downs Group, owner of Rosie’s chain of Virginia gaming parlors, to give $100,000 for transportation improvements for Route 1.

That requirement was a sticking point earlier this month when the council originally voted not to issue the permit for the gaming parlor. Councilman Charles Brewer said it isn’t fair to require such a fee for a business that isn’t building a new building, or one that will not have an adverse impact on traffic in the town.

Rosie’s is slated to open inside an existing 18,000 square-foot space inside Triangle Shopping Center, next to a Prince William County Public Library neighborhood branch.

After Town Mayor Derrick Wood urged the council to reconsider its vote Tuesday, and after the $100,000 requirement was stricken from the list of conditions, Brewer changed his vote.

Brewer told the audience that he moved to the Tripoli Heights neighborhood in 1983, 19 years before he was elected to the town council. Colonial Downs wanted to build a racetrack on land that is, today, the Potomac Landfill, a construction debris scrap yard.

“There were a lot of people who came into Dumfries from outside of the town talking about the evils pari-mutuel betting would bring to Dumfries. I would have rather had a racetrack than a landfill in my backyard,” said Brewer.

Prior to the vote, Colonial Downs paraded a group of its employees who traveled to Dumfries form their homes in the Richmond area, all in an effort to tout Rosie’s as a good employer.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for a lot of folks looking for entry-level work, and management,” said one employee who started as a cashier and now works as a manager. “There are a lot of misconceptions about a gaming emporium.”

There was local political might from the Richmond area, too, as New Kent County Board of Supervisors At-large member Patricia Page spoke on behalf of Colonial Downs, which operates a racetrack there. She listed the number of charitable causes the gambling firm sponsors on a regular basis. “Of all of the growing pains we’ve had in New Kent County, Colonial Downs isn’t one of them,” she said.

Those who support the project in Dumfries say the gaming parlor will attract other new businesses to the town, helping to make it a destination rather than a pass-by place on a map.

Opponents, of which there were few, included Councilwoman Cydny Neville. A school teacher by day, she said she doesn’t like the fact that the gaming parlor will open next to a library.

Colonial Downs invested heavily during the November 2019 General Election, plastering the town with signs urging town residents to vote yes to a referendum that would allow the gaming parlor to open in the town.

A total of 468 people voted for the measure, causing it to pass with more than 60% of the vote, according to the Virginia Department of Elections results.