Southern York County named as location for planned mini-casino
A view of the table games at Hollywood Casino. (Photo: Jeremy Long, Lebanon Daily News)
(Harrisburg) — It appears York County will be home to the state’s first mini-casino under a new gambling law.
The commonwealth has unveiled the first bids for 10 mini-casino licenses. Yoe was listed as the location for the winning bid of $50.1 million. That does not mean that a casino would be built in the borough, however. Rather, the developer has approval to develop a site within 15 miles of the community.
The highest bid was received from Mountainview Thoroughbred Racing Association, LLC, which operates Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course in Grantville, Dauphin County
The mini-casinos — known as a Category 4 casino — could operate between 300 and 750 slot machines and eventually up to 40 table games, according to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. For comparison, existing Category 3 casinos can have up to 600 slot machines and 50 table games.
Municipalities had the option to opt out of housing a mini-casino, and most in York County, including Yoe itself, opted out of hosting a mini-casino. But a number of southern York County municipalities did not opt out. Neither did York city.
The casino would go inside a 30-mile circle that includes the city of York and is bisected by Interstate 83. The center of the circle is the borough of Yoe, about 10 miles from the Maryland border.
It must meet licensing requirements before the deal goes through.
This story comes to us through a partnership between WITF and The York Daily Record.
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