Opinion: Statements at PGCB hearing on Nittany Mall casino got community sentiment wrong
During the Jan. 25 Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board hearing about the Nittany Mall Casino, the casino developer’s attorney said (1) our community strongly supported the casino because all who spoke at the Aug. 16, 2021 public hearing about the casino were universally supportive. He said subsequent opposition to the casino should be dismissed because (2) objectors did not care enough to attend the Aug. 16 public hearing and (3) our community’s objections are simply based on unfounded fears and opposition to gambling in general rather than on the merits of the Nittany Mall casino specifically. Additionally, he said (4) College Township’s recent approval of the casino’s land use plan communicates ongoing community support.
Despite the PGCB Commissioners being personally present at the relevant meeting and claiming to have read our community feedback closely, they did not contest these statements. Now many media outlets are repeating them uncritically. We write to provide additional relevant information:
1. The Aug. 16, 2021 public hearing about the casino did not show strong community support. During this hearing, three government representatives and six community members spoke in favor of the casino, and two community members spoke in opposition to it. This is hardly representative of the more than 100,000 people who live here, and it does not even constitute universal support from the speakers at the hearing!
2. Our community cares strongly about the harms the Nittany Mall casino will cause. Most of our community was unaware of the hearing on Aug. 16, 2021, which took place between Penn State’s summer and fall semesters when many were out of town, and the meeting’s pre-registration requirements ensured that few of those who did know about the meeting were allowed to speak. As more people have learned about the casino since that meeting, hundreds of area residents have invested thousands of hours doing research, collecting petition signatures, writing letters to government officials, attending public hearings, making posters, and posting content online. Our community’s care and concern about this issue is clearly manifest in the extensive research and public opposition feedback documented at saynocasino.org!
3. Many concerns submitted to the PGCB were specifically about the merits of the Nittany Mall casino, rather than merely opposing gambling in general. Much of the casino opposition feedback focused specifically on the harms the casino would cause to the 48,000 young adults attending the nearby Penn State campus and on the attendant damage to Penn State as an institution. Significant concerns were raised that developing a new casino in State College would be economically unwise because Pennsylvania’s gambling market is already oversaturated. Still more feedback questioned the State College location as unsuitable for attracting gambling tourists from out of state because people will not drive for hours to gamble at a central Pennsylvania mall when other casinos are available closer to their homes. Additionally, many people who submitted feedback indicated they do not oppose gambling in general, but they do oppose the development of this particular casino in this particular location.
4. College Township’s recent approval of the land use plan cannot fairly be said to communicate endorsement. During the College Township Council meetings in September and October 2022, some council members stated that they did not want to host a casino in College Township, but they did not opt out of potentially hosting one because they believed it was inevitable that a casino would eventually be developed in central Pennsylvania and they thought they could better control the damage that it would cause than other surrounding municipalities. Council members made it clear they have no discretion to deny the casino’s land use plan, and the College Township’s Casino FAQ document (p. 3) reports the township cannot deny the casino’s land use plan if it “meets the regulations outlined within the municipality’s zoning and subdivision and land development ordinances.”
Please visit saynocasino.org if you would like to learn more.
Andrew Shaffer is a State College resident.
