Council adopts new Entertainment & Resort Casino zoning and rezones Roslyn Farm parcels for Cordish development

PETERSBURG (Independent City) — The Petersburg City Council on Tuesday approved a city zoning text amendment creating an Entertainment and Resort Casino (ERC) district and voted to rezone several Roslyn Farm parcels to that new district, a key land‑use step for PPE Casino Resorts (Cordish Companies) to proceed with a phased casino and resort project.

City planning staff presented the ordinance language and said the ERC district is tailored to the casino‑resort use and includes special rules on uses, design, noise, buffers and signage. Planning Director Naomi Sadmock told the joint meeting the draft ordinance sets a 75‑acre minimum district size, allows the casino gaming establishment as the primary use, establishes tailored height and bulk rules (including some uses up to 30 stories and parking decks to eight stories), sets noise limits measured at adjoining residential properties (85 A weighted daytime, 72 A weighted nighttime), requires at least 5% of the total development area to be active public open space, and allows a temporary casino structure to operate under more limited temporary standards in the first phase.

Mark Stewart, general counsel for the Cordish Companies, and Rob Norton, president of Cordish Gaming, said Cordish is deep in design work, is already preparing civil and building permit materials for a temporary casino and hopes to begin a phased development that includes a permanent casino, hotel, conference and entertainment venues and later retail and other uses. Norton said the temporary facility will be sited farther south on the Roslyn Farm property, accessed via existing Brassfield Parkway and supported by surface lots during the initial phase. Cordish representatives told commissioners and council they are coordinating with police and public safety officials and expect to use off‑duty officers during peak periods.

At the Planning Commission public hearing, staff and Cordish answered questions about signage, noise, temporary facilities and plan changes. Residents raised concerns about the noise‑decibel limits, the scope and scale of signage, the temporary facility’s location and whether the planning department’s proposed requirement for a management/site plan should be reinserted in the ordinance. Barb Rudolph, a resident, asked for clarification on acreage figures in the presentations and on the site map; staff acknowledged differences between packet illustrations and assessor records and said the rezoning case would include the site plan clarifications.

The Planning Commission voted to recommend approval of the text amendment with a specific amendment requiring that any casino signage plan return to the Planning Commission and City Council for final approval. The commission motion to approve the text amendment with that signage requirement passed by roll call.

City Council later approved the zoning text amendment as drafted (the mayor moved approval and Council member Myers seconded; the council accepted a manager’s suggested edit removing one technical setback sentence from Section 4.2.c) and then approved the rezoning of the identified Roslyn Farm parcels to the ERC district. The rezoning vote on the three parcels (the record identifies parcel IDs and acreage in the application materials) passed by unanimous roll call: Council members Cuthbert, Jones, Myers, Smith Lee, Vice Mayor Hill and Mayor Perham were recorded as Aye on the rezoning vote.

Staff and Cordish emphasized several implementation points: the ERC district grants flexibility on signage for the casino itself but requires sign permits so staff can review safety and public‑safety impacts; the ordinance includes tailored buffer and landscape requirements to screen adjacent properties; the temporary casino can operate under a limited temporary permit during the first phase (staff said the temporary structure is planned to operate for up to two years while the permanent facility is built); and the text amendment leaves other uses not listed in the ERC to be reviewed via special use permit. Planning staff said parking minimums are relaxed in favor of development‑specific parking with landscaping to reduce surface lot impacts.

What’s next: With the text amendment and rezoning approved, the project advances to subsequent site‑plan and permitting stages. Cordish and city staff said civil and building permit work for the temporary casino is already underway and that the team expects further design and permitting steps over coming months; specific permit and construction schedules will appear in subsequent filings.