Citing concerns about a casino opening up in an industrial area, members of the City of Danville Planning and Zoning Commission have decided not to recommend the proposal move forward.
Commissioners rejected a proposal by Danville Development LLC that would re-zone 204 Eastgate Drive from industrial to general business zoning.
Both commission chair Tracy Taylor and commissioner Ted Vacketta were vocal in their opposition to the proposal, even though Grants and Planning Manager Logan Cronk recommended it move forward.
Vacketta said if the zoning would change it would not fit with the industrial zoning of the rest of the Eastgate area, also noting that neither the owner of the property nor a traffic study were included with the proposal, also noting that there is open land across Lynch Road to the east that could potentially be used for a casino without re-zoning a small parcel of land.
“It’s not compatible to have this type of zoning in an industrial area,” he said.
Michael Mervis of Mervis Industries urged the commissioners to reject the proposed re-zoning, saying he believes the proposed site is too small to fit a casino.
Attorney Andrew Mudd told commissioners that the Eastgate site would still house office space for the casino firm if a larger casino is eventually built closer to Interstate 74.
Taylor said in rejecting the proposal that if it wasn’t for the potential revenue from a casino “this wouldn’t even go under consideration” from the zoning board. She added that while she isn’t personally opposed to the casino, she believes there are plenty of better locations for the project and that there would be problems if the property were to go on the market in the future.
The proposal will still go before the city council on September 15th but will need a two-thirds vote from aldermen to be approved.
