According to a press release from the Maryland Jockey Club, over 23,000 signatures of Anne Arundel County residents have been collected in an attempt to block the special zoning for a slots parlor adjacent to the Arundel Mills shopping center. A minimum number of 18,790 signatures were needed in order to put the special zoning ordinance on the November ballot. The petition signatures must be certified before the issue can officially be placed on the ballot.
In the Maryland Daily Record, the Cordish Companies (owners of the Arundel Mills site) allege irregularities with the petition drive and the signatures collected.
Stay tuned to equiery.com for reactions in the horse industry.
READER COMMENT
“I think the slots belong at the race tracks!!!!!! The original intention was to boost the faltering Maryland horse racing association. Our senators/congressman may not know that Maryland for generations was known for producing fine Thoroughbred race horses, second only to Kentucky. Due to the small purses offered at Maryland’s tracks today, many horse people will not race in Maryland. Moving the slots to tracks would not only help the horse industry, but would bring additional help to many businesses – hotels, restaurants, shops, etc. We pay for schools in our taxes, not our fault if the misappropriated the money.”
– Jeannie Mohr Anderson
