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Racino wins zoning variances
The racetrack still needs state permits and approval from the state gaming commission.
HILLSVILLE, Pa. — The proposed Valley View Downs racetrack and casino won the last local approval it needed with the unanimous approval Thursday by the Mahoning Township Zoning Hearing Board of five zoning variance requests.
A sixth request was declared to be already in compliance with the zoning ordinance, so no variance was needed.
The board granted a height variance allowing a covered drive-up entryway to the casino to be 72 feet high; a variance to allow a hotel to be 180 feet high; 80-foot maximum heights for a possible three parking garages; a variance permitting a 140,000-gallon above-ground sewage tank on the site as a backup sewage plan in case the anticipated public sanitary sewer is not completed by the planned July, 2009 racetrack opening date; and a variance to allow an overflow 1,200-space parking area to have a grassy instead of the required paved surface.
A fifth variance request — to declare that a planned 7-foot fence around the harness racing track meets the fence requirement — was declared to be in compliance.
Township supervisors or any resident who signed up to speak at the hearing can appeal the decision within 30 days to Lawrence County Common Pleas Court.
With local approvals secured, the racetrack still needs state permits and approval from the state gaming commission for a slots license.
Valley View Downs officials presented evidence and testimony explaining why they needed the variances.
Architect Stephen Henkleman explained that the covered drive-up entryway is designed with two illuminated 72-foot-high pylons that will serve to direct motorists to the entrance of the casino — which they cannot see upon entering the 250-acre property.
A hotel is projected to need 300 guest rooms based on the size of the facility. Industry standards try to minimize the walking distance from the hotel to the casino, necessitating a 10-story structure, he said. Similarly, the three parking structures would contain six to seven parking levels, which would require them to be about 77 feet high.
Atty. Stephen Zubrow said that the hotel and parking structures are planned to follow the initial construction of the racetrack and casino by three to five years.