Published on: Wednesday, January 13, 2010

By Alexandra Murray

Anne Arundel’s 1.3 million-square-foot megamall will expand in 2011 with the addition of a 4,750 slots facility in what is now a parking lot, if the Cordish Companies’ plans go undisrupted.

After roughly 10 months of delay, the Anne Arundel County Council voted to approve zoning rights on Dec. 21 for the Cordish Companies to build a gambling facility at the Arundel Mall, which already has over 200 shops.

The facility, Maryland Live!, will have slot machines, restaurants, and other “entertainment venues,” according to a company press release.

“We will build, own, and operate the Maryland Live! Facility as a public trust, and we are committed to working closely with the community, area businesses and the county to create a world-class development of which everyone will be proud,” said company president David Cordish.

But many Hanover residents, like Rob Annicelli, president of the community activist group Stop Slots at Arundel Mills, oppose the mall location. Last week the anti-slots group received certification for a petition to overturn the companies’ zoning plans from the County Board of Elections.

For the issue to go on the fall 2010 ballot, the group must have 19,000 valid signatures, half of which must be approved in less than a month. For a signature to count, the person must be a registered voter in Anne Arundel County.

Stop Slots, along with community volunteers, and the Maryland Jockey Club, which hopes to relocate the slots to Laurel Park racetrack, have been collecting signatures since the petition’s approval. The anti-slots group plans to hold a petition signature and collection event Jan. 13 to evaluate its progress, according to its Facebook page.

While Annicelli’s group consists of mainly residents who are uneasy about a gambling facility in their neighborhood, many oppose the Arundel location because they want the slots to be at Laurel Park racetrack. There is debate over whether the Maryland Live! facility will improve or further damage the frail state of Maryland horseracing.

Cordish Companies claim that the Arundel location will benefit horseracing more than the Laurel Park location because it is expected to receive greater revenue. In a press release, the company stood by its plans, saying that it will create thousands of jobs and that it will donate about $500 million a year to the State Education Fund.

The Cordish Companies also plan to purchase the tracks at Laurel, Pimlico, and Bowie, in addition to the Preakness. Maryland Live! at Arundel Mills will provide for vastly higher racing purses and track reinvestment, which will allow us to return Maryland racing to national prominence,” Cordish stated in the release.

The Cordish Companies is a multibillion dollar group of businesses. It also own Power Plant Live!, a group of bars, nightclubs and restaurants in Baltimore City.