After residents filed a lawsuit against Rockingham County, following an approved re-zoning request from North Carolina commissioners to build a potential casino, the county has made its response, stating that they believed the re-zoning to be “error-free.”
Alongside this statement, Rockingham County also wrote that, “The property in issue sits along future Interstate 73, a four-lane divided highway. This area has been earmarked as a future growth area for a couple of decades.”
The re-zoning of nearly 200 acres of property to build a casino was said to have ignored “basic legal requirements” according to the plaintiffs, who include local landowners and a special needs children's summer camp, Camp Carefree. The lawsuit also made connections between several of the politicians involved and The Cordish Companies, with the company having given campaign donations to certain individuals in the past.
When the Board of County Commissioners first voted in favor of re-zoning back in August, there was an “overwhelming public opposition” to the decision, including from Sam Page, the Rockingham County Sheriff. This is due in part because of the land being mostly surrounded by residential areas, alongside the aforementioned Camp Carefree.
On the re-zoning, the social organization that filed the lawsuit, Citizens for Good Growth, wrote, “We seriously question the judgment of local and state officials who think it is a good idea to put a casino beside a beloved children’s camp that has served disabled and special needs children and their families for nearly 40 years.”
A full legal response to the lawsuit is expected to be issued by Rockingham County by December 22.
