Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, September 15, 1994 TAG: 9409150072
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-13 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
The five applicants, who have invested millions of dollars and untold hours pursuing the license, have a week to submit materials they believe will help the commission make a decision.
Some applicants objected to reopening the formal record, which had been closed on June 28. Thomas Meeker, chief executive officer of Kentucky-based Churchill Downs, labeled the action unfair.
Meeker, whose organization wants to build a track in Virginia Beach, said reopening the record would allow applicants to ``start lobbing grenades at each other.''
Chuck Long, a lawyer representing Ohio track owner Arnold Stansley, agreed with Meeker. Stansley has proposed building a track in New Kent County.
But Larry Framme, attorney for Middleburg businessman James J. Wilson, supported reopening the record.
``I believe the commission should have every bit of information it might consider relevant,'' he said. ``The commission can sort through the wheat and the chaff and the grenades.''
Donald R. Price, the commission's executive director, said in an interview after the meeting that the panel has received additional information in the last couple of weeks that its lawyer said should be made part of the public record.
Among the new material is a letter from Framme touting his client's Prince William County site as clearly the best track location, because Loudoun County voters rejected pari-mutuel gambling in a referendum last month.
The election's outcome eliminated the application by Maryland track operator Joseph De Francis to build a track in the county, but De Francis has struck a deal to operate the New Kent track if Stansley is the winner.
Commission member Arthur Arundel said the election ``changed the playing field'' and made reopening the record desirable.
Other applicants are Covington dentist Jeffrey Taylor, who wants to build on the same site eyed by Stansley; and Virginia Racing Associates, headed by former state Sen. Elmon Gray and horse breeder William M. Camp Jr. That group has proposed a site in Portsmouth.
The commission faces a Sept. 28 deadline for awarding a license, but state law allows a 30-day extension. Price said a decision probably will be made Oct. 12.
Keywords:
HORSE RACING
by CNB