By T. D. Thornton
A Maryland legislator filed an “emergency” bill Friday aimed at preventing the Maryland Jockey Club (MJC) from opening a simulcast room within the racetrack grandstand of the Timonium state fairgrounds where Thoroughbreds race every August.
The legislation comes three days after the Maryland Attorney General's office gave written notice to community leaders in Timonium that a proposed year-round off-track-betting facility would not be considered an expanded form of gambling, and thus would not require statewide approval by voters in a referendum.
The OTB had secured all but the final vote from the Maryland Racing Commission to begin operating as of Feb. 1. But in late January a group of Timonium citizens and politicians launched a campaign against it, citing fears of increased traffic and concerns that it might lead to further expanded gambling.
The synopsis of HB0704 states that the bill would prohibit “the State Racing Commission from granting a permit to hold satellite simulcast betting at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium.”
A related bill, HB0727, would require the commission, when considering OTB licenses in the future, “to give at least 30 days' notice of public hearings to all residents and businesses within a one-mile radius.”
MJC vice president and general manager Sal Sinatra said in a phone interview that he “was and wasn't surprised” that the anti-OTB legislation had been filed. He described it as a “missile” to get all the parties talking in advance of a Feb. 11 hearing.
Yet Sinatra has already met with community leaders in Timonium in an attempt to address their concerns over traffic, and he said he plans to meet with them twice more next week to work out an agreement. He added that the MJC is even willing to put it in writing that his organization is not trying to use the fairgrounds OTB as a way to gain a foothold for future expanded gaming at the site.
Sinatra characterized the concerns of residents as having more to do with repeated loud and late events at the fairgrounds and less to do with the actual simulcasting. He said he has heard from residents that they “don't have a voice” in the types of activities that the fairgrounds' administration books at the venue. The prospect of an OTB, he said, “was simply the straw that broke the camel's back.”
The sponsor of the bills, Delegate Chris West, noted in the Timonium-specific bill that “this act is an emergency measure, [and] is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public health or safety.”
The legislator's dire warning comes even after Sinatra has repeatedly assured community leaders that he projects only about 100-150 horseplayers arriving in about 35-50 vehicles to visit the OTB daily.
“We wish the simulcasting was going to be so wildly successful that it creates massive traffic jams,” Sinatra told TDN. “But realistically, I don't think that's going to be the case. Nevertheless, we're trying to respect the wishes of the neighborhood residents.”
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