‘There’s a need’: Hours to be extended at Rosie’s
Hampton City Council OKs request for off-track betting site to stay open till 4 a.m.
“It’s safety over profits. I’m still able to provide meaningful employment with our team members, fill a need in the community and reach that balance.”
— Vincent Jordan, Rosie’s Hampton general manager
HAMPTON — The pandemic threatened the existence of dozens of Hampton Roads restaurants, hospitality businesses and entertainment venues, such as Rosie’s Gaming Emporium.
With state-sanctioned capacity limits on indoor gatherings, businesses that relied heavily on foot-traffic volume lost revenue and cut staff and hours when they could not meet payroll. Rosie’s, at the Power Plant of Hampton Roads shopping plaza, seems to have weathered the storm. Now its owners are looking forward to new opportunities.
The Hampton City Council on Wednesday approved the request of Rosie’s parent company — Colonial Down Group LLC — to stay open until 4 a.m., but not without some disagreements. The 6 to 1 vote was cast after the council jostled over whether there was enough security to cover being open two additional hours.
“Like my mother always said, after 12 o’clock at night there is nothing good happening,” Councilman Billy Hobbs said, who cast the dissenting vote. Hobbs read from a Facebook post from people complaining about the changes. Hobbs also questioned why there wasn’t a community meeting.
“Who made the decision to change?” Hobbs said. “I have a problem with that. I worry about the security of citizens. I am not a gambler; I don’t know if it’s better after 2 a.m. I don’t see the social distancing. I’m having a real hard time extending these hours.”
When Rosie’s first came knocking at Hampton’s door, local leaders approached it with caution.
The off-track betting facility opened in 2019 with 700 historic horse racing machines, a restaurant and an entertainment center. Revenue from pari-mutual taxes have been good for Hampton, hauling in $1.2 million in the current fiscal cycle and projected to bring in an additional $500,000 for the next, city finance director Karl Daughtrey said.
“We haven’t had any negative experiences,” Vice Mayor Jimmy Gray said. “Rosie’s has met and honored all, everything they had promised..”
Last year when Colonial Downs sought approval from the city planning commission for extended hours, the panel was split and the recommendation denied. During Wednesday’s presentation, chief city planner Donald Whipple said Rosie’s has had 137 incident calls, with nearly half coming from police. Most of the calls were minor larceny, suspicious person, or vehicle, according to Whipple’s report.
Chief Terry Sult also weighed in, concerned that he did not recall seeing a revised security plan and in general, having enough officers to work the shifts, as ranks are low in Hampton.
“Can we get extra duty officers to work to 4 a.m. considering the next shift is at 6 a.m.?” Sult said. “We just need to make sure we can fill those positions.”
Rosie’s own night security supervisor Mark Wagner, a retired Newport
News homicide detective, agreed having Hampton police present is a crucial deterrent, but said officers don’t always stay the entire shift, combined with armed security guards who cannot arrest people.
“They meet the state minimum requirement for a security officer. They are trained with the minimum aspect of security,” Wagner said. “At that time of the night, you have the worst of people. We ask them to leave. People don’t want to leave, or they come in an inebriated state, as it is. I live in Hampton. It’s just a recipe for disaster.”
Council also debated on the ratio of security to customers and whether it had been reduced last year along with the capacity limit, Council members Chris Snead and Eleanor Brown agreed that Rosie’s had provided ample evidence it had maintained security measures.
“Certainly, once things are back and we have our herd immunity, certainly I would feel safe there, so I would support the vote to 4 a.m.,” Snead said.
Vincent Jordan, Rosie’s Hampton general manager, said the security in place — seven persons including four guards, two that carry firearms and at least one or maybe two Hampton police officer that can make arrests — has not changed. Company reps said it has done the same transition in Richmond successfully.
Colonial Downs Group spent $500,000 on sanitizing equipment, divided shield between the gambling machines and a touch-free thermometer to scans to customers’ temperatures before entering. Cleaning crews misted and sanitized each machine periodically. Customers are required to wear masks and are required to answer questions before entering, such as attesting to whether they are asymptomatic and whether they had been in contact with anyone that tested positive for COVID-19.
“It’s safety over profits,” Jordan said. “I’m still able to provide meaningful employment with our team members, fill a need in the community and reach that balance.”
Jordan added staying open later keeps in step with Rosie’s elsewhere in Hampton Roads and allows the location greater flexibility. He said the industry standard in larger cities is to operate 24 hours. In
Hampton, it will help with spreading out the limited capacity and judging by the lines outside, “there’s a need and people like to come in and enjoying themselves,” he said.
In the past year, players wagered over $173 million at all five Rosie locations, with prizes paid out exceeding $158 million, Colonial Downs spokesman Mark Hubbard said in an email. In February, Hampton players wagered $56.6 million, he said. Last month, the city collected $143,117 in taxes from Rosie’s.
The business would still be subject to state’s ABC laws and not be allowed to serve alcohol past 2 a.m., Hubbard said.