Baltimore-based Cordish Cos., developer of the Inner Harbor's Power Plant Live and similar projects around the country, is proposing a 4,750-machine casino and entertainment complex at Arundel Mills. The slots commission hopes to make decisions on the licenses by fall, Fry said.
Laurel Park was long considered a front runner for a gambling license because the legalization of slots was envisioned in part as a way to save the state's ailing horse racing industry. Rifkin argued in court that Laurel's failure to submit license fees was appropriate because the fees are technically not refundable and the bidding process constitutes an illegal "forfeiture of property" prohibited by the Maryland Constitution.
In his opinion, Mulford dismissed those arguments and declined to issue a preliminary injunction preventing the slots commission from proceeding with its work. "Further delay and uncertainty," he wrote, "would serve only to impede the clearly expressed interest of the General Assembly and the voters of Maryland."
