A landowner in North Carolina who agreed to promote roughly 32 acres of land to an actual property developer says he was duped when he entered the tentative settlement.
Farmland situated simply off the I-95 Rocky Mount exit, has been focused for a on line casino resort improvement. However the landowner says he was deceived into agreeing to promote the property. (Picture: Shutterstock)
Kent Dozier tells CBS17 that he’s lived in Rocky Mount on his land that butts up towards Interstate 95 for a half-century. Earlier this yr, Dozier says he was shocked to study {that a} improvement firm was focused on buying his farmland situated alongside his namesake Dozier Rd.
Dozier mentioned he was approached by legal professional Tony Copeland, who, in response to state information, is a registered lobbyist for The Cordish Corporations, a Baltimore-based on line casino operator and hospitality agency.
Talking with the native CBS affiliate final week, Dozier says he wasn’t advised what the purchaser had in retailer for his vacant land. He later discovered via information stories that Cordish’s curiosity stemmed from state legislative efforts in Raleigh to legalize casinos within the Tar Heel State.
I’ve by no means purchased a lottery ticket. I don’t gamble,” Dozier mentioned. “I can’t see taking hard-earned cash and throwing it out at an opportunity understanding that they’re designed to take your cash.”
Dozier cited his non secular beliefs for opposing the lottery and playing.
Native Says He Was Deceived
Final week, highly effective GOP leaders within the Republican-controlled Normal Meeting folded on their efforts to incorporate a on line casino provision within the state’s 2023-25 finances invoice. Senate President Professional Tempore Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) and Home Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland) had requested their colleagues to help permitting a single business on line casino within the counties of Rockingham, Anson, and Nash.
Berger had apparently reached a handshake take care of Cordish to supply the three unique improvement rights to the gaming operator of Reside!-branded casinos in Maryland and Pennsylvania. Cordish Gaming CEO Joseph Weinberg donated $5,600 to Berger’s marketing campaign chest over the previous 12 months.
Dozier says he wasn’t advised that his land might grow to be a on line casino earlier than he agreed to signal the tentative sale settlement. Ought to casinos have been licensed via state laws, Dozier’s land would have joined neighboring parcels alongside US 64 that Cordish was additionally in search of to buy.
“I name it deception,” Dozier declared.
Nash County Board of Commissioners Chair Robbie Davis mentioned it might have been greatest for Cordis and Copeland to be extra clear.
“It will have been a lot better for them [landowners] to have recognized, however there is no such thing as a regulation or requirement for them to be advised,” Davis defined.
The county commissioner mentioned Cordish was in talks with 17 tracts of land for its attainable Nash County on line casino.
Land Seemingly Received’t Be Bought
Final week’s information that GOP leaders within the Normal Meeting decided that they didn’t have the votes wanted to maneuver ahead with the gaming push will seemingly hold Dozier’s land in his possession. Dozier says the tentative settlement he signed with Cordish required that the 32 acres be bought earlier than Jan. 1, 2024.
Although the gaming dialogue is useless for 2023, lawmakers might once more think about legalizing business casinos in 2024. However following the extremely controversial closed-door gaming negotiations over the previous few weeks and clogged native media headlines, potential on line casino builders might need a tougher time securing land for gaming developments subsequent yr with out landowners understanding the corporate’s intentions.
