Baltimore County Council bill would ban casino at state fairgrounds

The legislation, introduced Monday by Councilman Wade Kach, follows a community uproar after the Maryland Jockey Club revealed plans to offer year-round betting on horse races simulcast from around the country at the fairgrounds grandstand.

Neighbors, who said they were caught off guard by the Jockey Club's plans, fear full-time betting on races could bring traffic problems and eventually open the window to casino-style games. The state's racing commission last month approved an off-track betting parlor in Timonium.

Kach, whose northern county district includes the fairgrounds, had earlier proposed revisions to county zoning law to ban off-track betting on racing simulcasts. He withdrew that bill Monday, replacing it with the bill to prohibit "expansion of commercial gaming activities, including the location and operations of a casino and table games."

The county proposal could put pressure on the state's fair board, the Jockey Club and community groups to reach a compromise that would allow off-track betting in exchange for an agreement that there would be no push for a casino or other gaming at the fairgrounds for at least a dozen years, Kach said.

"Where this is headed, I'm hoping, is we'll have some sort of agreement that we have no casinos," Kach said Tuesday.

The dispute also has raised questions about the county's ability to restrict gaming at the state fairgrounds through its zoning laws.

Calls or emails to representatives of the Jockey Club, fair board and Greater Timonium Community Council were not immediately returned.

The proposed bill is online at: http://resources.baltimorecountymd.gov/Documents/CountyCouncil/bills%202016/b01716.pdf