Real Estate & Property Law

Owners Fight Seizure of Horse Tracks

By Alan Ackerman

The articles discussing the closing of the Maryland race tracks spans all the issues known to mankind. This really is a classic chicken and egg situation. On the one hand the track ownership fought the licensing procedure; yet, the ownership desires the benefit of the procedure. Should a condemnation occur, it is very likely that the owners can appropriately claim that they should be treated as race tracks which maintain the highest and best use of race tracks with a casino/slot machine venue available.

Baltimore Sun

To suggest now that Laurel Park is still a viable candidate for slots is to insult the voters, the legislature and the entire state.

Maryland already limits private-property rights in the name of history and tradition. Owners of historic buildings find to their chagrin that they can't just bulldoze the places and build a parking garage.

Think of the Jockey Club as a stately Colonial mansion run by absentee landlords. The shutters sag. Termites have set up house. The whole thing may collapse if the state doesn't do something.

Penn National's obsession with slots is more evidence, if any were needed, that it and Stronach aren't the right owners for the tracks. Penn didn't buy its Jockey Club stake because it wanted to hold thoroughbred meets.

Full post as published by National Eminent Domain Blog on December 14, 2010 (boomark / email).