United Kingdom: Roanoke pushes casino plan onto 2026 agenda despite resistance from state delegation

Roanoke’s proposed casino and entertainment district will move forward as a major priority for the city’s 2026 General Assembly agenda, with Mayor Joe Cobb and key council members insisting on its inclusion despite opposition from the city’s state lawmakers and the chair of the council’s legislative committee.

City officials say the project, planned for the Berglund Center site, would generate new jobs, add a hotel and restaurants, increase gaming revenue and draw performers who often skip Roanoke. Any casino in Virginia requires approval from the General Assembly followed by a local referendum.

The city submits a legislative agenda each fall outlining what it hopes to see advanced in Richmond. This year, Roanoke-area legislators Del. Sam Rasoul, D-Roanoke; Del. Joe McNamara, R-Roanoke County; and Sen. David Suetterlein, R-Roanoke County, have already voiced strong opposition to the proposal.

“I would not vote for a casino, probably under any circumstances,” Rasoul said in an interview. After the city announced the plan on Oct. 14, McNamara and Suetterlein called the proposal “completely misguided.” McNamara added by phone that he believed a casino would be an “incubator of a lot of bad stuff”. Some council members initially said they were undecided or that it was too early to form a view.

The casino item does not appear on the city’s main written legislative list. Cobb said this omission stems from a conflict of interest involving the lobbyist who handles most of the city’s legislative package and who works with another casino developer. Roanoke will instead work with a separate group to carry the casino request to Richmond.

Emails obtained through the Virginia Freedom of Information Act show internal disagreement within the council’s legislative committee. On Oct. 16, committee chair Terry McGuire wrote to senior staff and colleagues that he had not included the casino in the draft because “all three [legislators] flatly rejected that.”

Cobb responded that “collectively, as a Council, we support the efforts related to creating an entertainment district including a casino,” adding that he believed the matter should still go before legislators even though “our local legislators have stated their initial opposition.”

Committee vice chair Peter Volosin wrote: “Add the casino priority to the Economic Development section. It is our most important priority this session, even if our delegation aren’t helping.” Later that day, McGuire wrote back: “Respectfully, I disagree and don’t think it’s a good idea, so I’m going to leave it out. I welcome supporters make a motion to include it on Monday, but I would vote no on that addition.”

Cobb then told McGuire, copying City Manager Valmarie Turner, that “it is not your decision to leave out a major item from our legislative agenda that a majority of council supports,” and said McGuire had “not indicated” he opposed the proposal.

Cobb later said the casino “is one of our most important priorities, just in terms of timeliness.” The city has warned for months that it faces financial strain. In the most recent budget cycle, it raised the meals tax by 1%, imposed cuts and held school funding level.

Cobb said the casino idea emerged after Turner became city manager and began reviewing the Berglund Center’s needs. The site is more than 50 years old, and Roanoke is spending $1.5 million a year on upgrades through fiscal 2027, mostly funded by bonds.

He said residents frequently call for more entertainment options and argued that Roanoke’s airport, Amtrak service and tourism base make it an “important” location. He cited the potential for 900 to 1,000 hospitality jobs after construction.