Mr. David LeVan, Owner
Battlefield Harley Davidson
21 Cavalry Field Road
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania  17325

Dear Mr. LeVan:

As citizens of Adams County, Pennsylvania, we are writing to respectfully request that you reconsider applying for a state license to place a casino in the Eisenhower Inn and All Star Complex on the Emmitsburg Road south of Gettysburg, just one-half mile from the boundary of the Gettysburg National Military Park.

We acknowledge the numerous good works you have done for the Gettysburg community, and we ask that you, in the same spirit of civic responsibility, change your mind.

In 2005 and 2006, a similar debate over the previous Gettysburg casino proposal tore Adams County apart.  Recently, former Borough Council president Dick Peterson called that controversy the “most divisive” event of his tenure.  Speaking to The Gettysburg Times, he said, “That split everyone asunder.  It wasn’t just the council that was split, the whole community was split on the issue.  That was something that I think we were all glad when it was over, and we all came out somewhat scarred with bandages.”

This new casino plan could be far more contentious, since this proposed location lies in a more rural part of the county, within the Journey Through Hallowed Ground Heritage Area, along a recently established National Scenic Byway, and less than 3,000 feet from the National Military Park.

Although your new application is not due until April 7, already the same hostility has begun to permeate our everyday lives and impact our community’s many guests.

Please weigh the unintended consequences of reigniting this controversial issue, and the harm that will come to our community if you proceed with your proposal.  You have it in your power to help us heal once and for all, to emerge as a stronger community, ready to embrace the heritage tourism opportunities associated with the upcoming Civil War Sesquicentennial.

We, the undersigned residents of Adams County, therefore request that you stop your casino plans now.  You are the only person in the community that can prevent this divisive debate.  We ask, instead, that you consider creative alternatives that we could all embrace.

Very Respectfully

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Total Signatures:226

Julie Aha, Cashtown
Dr. William Aldrich, Gettysburg
Kurt Anschuetz, New Oxford
Pat Anschuetz, New Oxford
John M. Archer, Gettysburg
Darlene M. Archer, Gettysburg
Laura Arendt, Gettysburg
Catherine Bain, Gardners
Carol Ann Baran, Gettysburg
Gregory Baran, Gettysburg
Mr. and Mrs. Ethan Bishop, Gettysburg
Joseph E. Breighner, Gettysburg
Dale Brennan, Gettysburg
Scott Bucher, Biglerville
Frank Buck, Gettysburg
Loni Buck, Gettysburg
Troy Buck, Gettysburg
Irene Bunner, Hanover
Charles Caldwell, Gettysburg
Norma Calhoun, Gettysburg
Ellen Carter, Gettysburg
John Carter, Gettysburg
Judith Carr, Gettysburg
Nancy S. Chambers, Gettysburg
Jack W. Chambers, Gettysburg
Tim Christopher, Gettysburg
Craig Coffman, Gettysburg
Bill Collinge, Gettysburg
Susan Collinge, Gettysburg
Levon Crouse,Littlestown 
Leigh Ann Daugherty, Gettysburg
Carmella DeNoma, Ortanna
Emily DeNoma, Ortanna
John DeNoma, Ortanna
Ann Dentry, Gettysburg
Bruce Dietrick, Gettysburg
Dan Diviney, New Oxford
Teresa Donati, Gettysburg
Jeannine Duffy, Gettysburg
Angie Dull, Gettysburg
Sandra Edwards, Gettysburg
William Elliott, Jr., Ortanna
Charles F. Emmons, Gettysburg
Penelope Emmons, Gettysburg
David English, Gettysburg
Jane English, Gettysburg
Betty Evans, Fairfield
Anne Evans, Littlestown
Gil Evans, Littlestown
Gioconda Fazzolari, Gettysburg
Alan Ferranto, Gettysburg
Mary Furlong, McSherrystown
Evelyn Ganas, Gettysburg
Deborah Gemmell, Gettysburg
Jim Getty, Gettysburg
Don Gilbert, Fairfield
Phyllis Gilbert, Fairfield
Linda Gillitzer, Gettysburg
Joe Gillitzer, Gettysburg
Stanley Gish, Gettysburg
Marissa Gregorwich, York Springs
Paul Gregorwich, York Springs
Shaun Grenan, Gettysburg
Pat Groves, Gettysburg
Lou Hammann, Ortanna
Patricia Hammann, Ortanna
Ann Harner, Gettysburg
Harry E. Henderson, Gettysburg
Anne G Henderson, Gettysburg
Jay A Herman, Aspers
Donald Hinks, Gettysburg
Joan Hinks, Gettysburg
Deborah Hilling, Gettysburg
Pearl Hoffman, Gettysburg
Dianne Hoffman, Gettysburg
Terry Holahan, Gettysburg
Kendal Hopkins, Aspers
Dr. Richard R. Hoffman, Jr., Gettysburg
Bernard Huesken, Gettysburg
Bonita L. Isenberger, Gettysburg
Andy Jurcak, Gettysburg
Lucy Jurcak, Gettysburg
Paul Kallina, Gettysburg
Judith A. Kartoz, Gettysburg
Ed Krantz, Gettysburg
Margaret Lambert, New Oxford
Anne Bucher Lane, Gettysburg
Ben Lawrence, Gettysburg
Bernie Lawrence, Gettysburg
Renie Lawrence, Gettysburg
Galina Leonard, Gettysburg
Ann Long, Gettysburg
Samuel Long, Gettysburg
Donald Lowe, Gettysburg
Gillian Lowe, Gettysburg
Ed Luckenbaugh, Cashtown
Jack Lynch, Gettysburg
Jean Lynch, Gettysburg
Donald C. MacLean, Gettysburg
Joan L. MacLean, Gettysburg
Dona Maguire, East Berlin
Alan Mains, Gettysburg
Louise Mains, Gettysburg
Rebecca Makdad, Gettysburg
Laurence A. Marschall, Gettysburg
Niles Martin, Gettysburg
Scott McCabe, Gettysburg
Debra McCauslin, Gettysburg
Charles McElhose, Gettysburg
Sharon McElhose, Gettysburg
Ann McHale, Gettysburg
John McHale, Gettysburg
Elaine McKnight, Gettysburg
Donald McKnight, Gettysburg
Melody Messick, Gettysburg
Father Jim Miller, CPPS, Gettysburg
Lou Ann Milhimes, Gettysburg
Andrew Miner, Gettysburg
Mary Miner, Gettysburg
Nikki Mixell, Gettysburg
Dale Molina, Gettysburg
Alice Morrissey, Gettysburg
Paul Moschette, Gettysburg
Rick & Sheri Moyer, Abbottstown
Dennis Negley, Gettysburg
Joyce Negley, Gettysburg
Alan Olson, Carroll Valley
Cathy Olson, Carroll Valley
Alan Olson, Fairfield
Mary Oyler, Gettysburg
Susan Star Paddock, Gettysburg
James E. Paddock, Gettysburg
Gladys Parks, Gettysburg
John Paxson, Gettysburg
Alice Paxson, Gettysburg
Janice Peitrone, Gettysburg
Dick Peterson, Gettysburg
Pauline Peterson, Gettysburg
Lolly Odea Polvinale, Gettysburg
Janet M. Powers, Gettysburg
Gail Prezioso, Gettysburg
Sal Prezioso, Gettysburg
Carolyn Quadarella, Gettysburg
Ann Radcliff, Biglerville
Dick Radcliff, Biglerville
Jennifer M. Railing, Gettysburg
William F. Railing, Gettysburg
Richard Randall, Gettysburg
R. William Reaver, Gettysburg
Karen Rebmann, Gettysburg
Mary Redding, Gettysburg
Riley Redding, Gettysburg
Dorothy N. Reynolds, Gettysburg
David R. Rice, Gettysburg
Kristin Rice, Gettysburg
Muriel L. Rice, Gettysburg
Carole Richter, Gettysburg
Dr. Conrad Richter, Gettysburg
Ronald A. P. Rock, Gettysburg
Donna Rockey, Ortanna
Craig Rockey, Ortanna
Janet Rodgers, Abbottstown
Jack Rose, Gettysburg
Katherine Schneider, Gettysburg
Darrel Sensenig, Gettysburg
Ellie Sheen, Gettysburg
Dr. James Sheen, Gettysburg
Sharon E. Sheppard, Hanover
Peter H. Sheppard, Hanover
Barbara Shultz, Gettysburg
Jean Shultz, Gettysburg
Loring Shultz, Gettysburg
Steve Shultz, Gettysburg
Earl Shutt, Fairfield
Joyce Shutt, Fairfield
Dan Siderio, Gettysburg
Jean Siderio, Gettysburg
Cynthia M. Simpson, Fairfield
Pat Small, Gettysburg
Sam Small, Gettysburg
Wes Small, Gettysburg
Alicia Smith, Gettysburg
Marian Sneeringer, Gettysburg
Nancy Spurkeland, Gettysburg
Sonja Spurkeland, Gettysburg
Steven Stanley, Gettysburg
Barbara Steele, Littlestown
Roger Steele, Littlestown
Lisa Steinour,Gettysburg
Gary Sterner, Biglerville
Susan Sterner, Biglerville
Paul Sundholm, Gettysburg
Wendy Sundholm, Gettysburg
Jocelyn Swigger, Gettysburg
Charles, Swingler, Gettysburg
Gloria Swingler, Gettysburg
Chuck Teague, Gettysburg
J.S. Thomas, Gettysburg
Melanie Thomas, Gettysburg
Kerr Thompson, Gettysburg
Susan Thompson, Gettysburg
Geoffrey Thulin, Cashtown
Charlie Tipton, Gettysburg
Tem Tipton, Gettysburg
Dora L. Townsend, Gettysburg
Dr. Joseph Tripi, Gettysburg
Rosemarie Tripi, Gettysburg
Kyrstie Walker, Gettysburg
Dick Waybright, Gettysburg
John Wega, Gettysburg
Karen Welsh, Gettysburg
Keith Welsh, Gettysburg
Joyce Wentz, Gettysburg
Carol Widerman, Gettysburg
Marcia Wilson, Mount Pleasant Township
James Wolf, Littlestown
Marion Wolf, Littlestown
John Wolfe, Gettysburg
Peter Wolfe, Gettysburg
Homer Wood, Gettysburg
Gloria E. Yohe, Gettysburg
Buddy Zech, Gettysburg
Elizabeth Zech, Gettysburg
Gladys Zech, Gettysburg
Jeanne Zumbrum, New Oxford

Full Report Here:

A Maryland-based residential developer is in the process of purchasing the Gettysburg Country Club, and the company’s president said it’s “very unlikely” that the property will remain a country club.
March 30 is the scheduled closing date between Woodhaven Building and Development Inc., of Manchester, Md., and Susquehanna Bank, the current property owner, according to Woodhaven’s president, Martin K.P. Hill.

Hill said the company has “no idea right now” what it will do with the 120-acre golf course property between Chambersburg Road and Country Club Lane. The club is also within the 6,000-acre boundary of the Gettysburg National Military Park, and was the site of significant fighting during the Battle of Gettysburg.

“We’re looking at every economically viable option that we can come up with,” Hill said on Tuesday, declining to give any specific options.

But asked if a country club would remain, he said it was”very unlikely.”

Hill described Woodhaven Building and Development Inc. as a residential development company that develops land and sells it to builders.

The company has spent more than 30 years developing land for several residential communities in Maryland and southcentral Pennsylvania, and built in the area for 35 years before selling its former building company to a national company in 2002, Hill said.

In addition to land development in Hanover and Manchester, the group has developed land off Old Mill Road in Gettysburg that wasthen purchased by ummit Homes to build The Preserves at Cumberland Village, an active adult community.
While Hill would not disclose the sale price of Gettysburg Country Club, he said his company looked at the property about a year ago and took a quick look at it again a few weeks ago before making “a bottom-line offer” that was accepted by Susquehanna Bank.

“We knew we were bottom fishing. When you do that, you’re never confident, but that’s where we determined the value was,” Hill said.

The Gettysburg Country Club fell into financial distress in 2008, and Susquehanna Bank ultimately foreclosed on the property. It went up for sale at a sheriff’s auction for a minimum of $2.79 million in February 2009, but no one placed a bid. That transferred the property back to the bank.

Land development was exactly what preservationists and the Gettysburg National Military Park hoped to avoid when Gettysburg Country Club went up for sale in February 2009.

About a month later, Gettysburg National Military Park made an appearance on the Civil War Preservation Trust’s annual Top 10 list of American’s most endangered Civil War battlefields.

While the park has regularly appeared on the list since 2001, it was the first year that Gettysburg Country Club was identified as at-risk for land development.

“The park has it listed as a high priority to protect the land,” park spokeswoman Katie Lawhon said in a phone message Tuesday. “According to our land-protection plan, we hope to preserve the property.”

Last year, the park was considering acquiring the land through an easement or through an outright purchase to protect the land from future development.

Like the park, the CWPT also inquired about purchasing the property, but officials said the asking price was too high.

The property is among the significant land related to the Battle of Gettysburg, Lawhon said.

On the first day of the battle, the famed Iron Brigade attacked across Willoughby Run onto what is now the golf course, driving back a Confederate brigade and capturing its commander, Gen. James Archer. Later in the day, Confederate Gen. James Pettigrew’s North Carolina brigade advanced across that same ground to attack the Iron Brigade near the run. Both brigades lost more than 1,000 men that day.

By HEATHER FAULHEFER
For the Daily Record/Sunday News

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Gettysburg native David LeVan and former Penn National Gaming vice president Joseph A. Lashinger Jr. have been working to develop Mason-Dixon Resort & Casino at the existing Eisenhower Hotel & Conference Center on Emmitsburg Road. On Tuesday, they issued a news release announcing Penn National committed the funding for the $75 million project’s development, construction and opening.

Spokesman David La Torre said Mason-Dixon Resorts LP submitted an application April 7 for a Category 3 Resort License from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.

The Category 3 license authorizes an established hotel resort to operate up to 600 slot machines and up to 50 table games, according to the gaming board’s Web site.

Mason-Dixon Resort & Casino’s partners have proposed 300 hotel rooms and 20,000 square feet of meeting space. They plan to operate the maximum number of slot machines and table games if approved, according to the news release.

Penn National Gaming owns and operates 19 gaming operations, including Hollywood Casino in Grantville, Pa., and Charles Town Races & Slots in Jefferson County, W.Va.

Charles Town is on the cusp of expanding its offerings to include table games at its sprawling Jefferson County location. A press conference is planned Wednesday at Charles Town to announce a name change and other additions to the facility, including a new entertainment venue.

“We believe the location of this (proposed) facility can drive additional daytime and overnight tourism in the area and help stimulate the local economy,” Penn National Gaming Senior Vice President of Regional Operations John V. Finamore said in the news release.

The resort and casino would save 100 jobs at the financially struggling Eisenhower convention center and create hundreds more through the expansion, La Torre said.

Mason-Dixon Resort & Casino would give tourists evening activities and capitalize on the Baltimore-Washington, D.C., metro market, La Torre said.

“It allows Pennsylvania to put a casino virtually on the border of Maryland and tap into a new audience,” La Torre said, calling it “the perfect project.”

The developers already formed a partnership with Gettysburg Tours to offer shuttle services for guests. Additional agreements are being forged with Ski Liberty and the Links at Gettysburg golf resort, according to La Torre.

The gaming board will make sections of the application available to the public. After that, it will hold public hearings and a sustainability hearing in the state capital before voting, La Torre said.

He said he did not know what the time frame would be for those things to happen.

David LeVan proposed a 3,000-slot machine facility east of Gettysburg in 2005 and failed. La Torre said that project would have been entirely new construction on green space, rather than re-purposing the existing convention center.

“We learned from those lessons,” he said.

The casino issue has polarized many residents in the Adams County community and in Civil War history circles.

By JENNIFER FITCH

Copyright © 2010 – The Herald Mail

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LeVan and business partner Joseph Lashinger are looking to convert 72,000 square feet of space at the Eisenhower Inn and All-Star Sports Complex along Business 15 near Gettysburg into a gaming resort, and they have the 100-acre site under a purchase-option through 2012.

“The filing of the application today is a huge milestone. Make no mistake about that,” LeVan told broadcaster Fred Snyder on 1320 WGET. But LeVan noted that it’s “just the beginning” of a “much longer” review process by the state’s Gaming Control Board.

The gaming board has no timetable for awarding the final license, following Wednesday’s application deadline. It is believed that four groups have submitted applications, including Mason Dixon, the Nemacolin Resort in western Pennsylvania, the Crowne Reading Plaza in Wyomissing, and the Fernwood Resort in the Poconos.

Sources say Penn National Gaming, operator of Dauphin

County’s Hollywood Casino, is the proposed operator for Mason Dixon.

LeVan was asked Wednesday if he was disappointed in the lack of support from area lawmakers. Legislators in western Pennsylvania are speaking favorably about the Nemacolin project, while lawmakers here — such as state Rep. Dan Moul and Senator Richard Alloway — are remaining tight-lipped about an Adams County casino.

“Of course I’m disappointed,” said LeVan. “But I am also sensitive and understand their position. Dan and Rich are listening to their constituents,” said LeVan, noting that while 62 percent of county residents polled in a recent survey support the project, more than 30 percent opposed the project.

LeVan believes that his group is in “much better position this time than we were during any of our previous” gaming attempts. In 2005-06, LeVan’s “Crossroads Gaming Resort” in Straban Township was rejected by the state, because of opposition and revenue concerns, while his overtures with the Harness Racing Commission in 2007-08 were unable to gain momentum.

LeVan clarified confusion over Mason Dixon Resort job data Wednesday, referencing a recent economic impact study predicting that the project will create 900 new “direct and indirect” jobs. “We’re looking at new jobs…at the resort itself…of something just slightly less than 400,” explained LeVan. “The other numbers that were included in that are part-time jobs during the construction period, as well as jobs that come from other businesses that are going to serve this facility.”

Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell has stated that the Mason Dixon project is “less objectionable” than the Crossroads proposal, because it is closer to Maryland and farther away from Gettysburg. Likewise, Gettysburg Battlefield Supt. Bob Kirby has said that the project will have “no direct impact” on the park’s resources, even though the hotel sits just a half-mile away from park boundaries.

While LeVan agreed that “it’s a better location” for a casino, he explained that “we didn’t select this location based on any of that criteria.” Instead, Levan pointed to the provisions outlined in the state’s six-year-old gaming law, for Category Three licenses. “It had to be an existing resort, and it had to exist at the time the original gaming bill was passed, back in July of 2004,” said LeVan, explaining that qualifying hotels must have at least 275 rooms, and offer other resort amenities. The Eisenhower Inn has 307 guest rooms, plus recreational attractions.

“The Eisenhower Inn and All Star Complex is really the only facility that meets the criteria in Adams County, and in fact, it’s one of the very few resorts that meets the criteria in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” said LeVan.

He defended a traffic study completed by York-based TRG, concluding that minimal improvements are needed along Emmitsburg Road-Business 15 as a result of the casino. Critics have argued that the study was performed in January-March, during the non-tourist season, when traffic is light.

But LeVan noted that his group was unable to perform a traffic study in the summer months, since the gaming application process reopened “in early January when the governor signed the bill,” authorizing table games. His group had 90 days to finalize a traffic study, as well as other reports by April 7, so traffic engineers utilized “accepted methodologies to convert traffic results” to peak periods, approved by the state’s Dept. of Transportation.

The Battlefield Harley Davidson co-owner also touted the background of Dr. G. Terry Madonna, a nationally-recognized pollster commissioned by Mason Dixon to gauge support for the project. Data released last month showed that 62 percent of 600 local residents surveyed support the casino.

“One of the things that we took into consideration in selecting (Madonna’s agency) was their reputation and their independence, because we knew their independence would come under challenge,” said LeVan. “I would suggest that there is nobody that is more independent or more qualified to do the kind of poll that we wanted done than Terry Madonna,” Levan finished. “He would not have compromised his reputation on a single study for us.”

LeVan and Lashinger paid a $5 million licensing fee Wednesday, compared to the $50 million LeVan paid in 2005-06, when he applied for a Category Two, stand-alone slots parlor license. The Mason Dixon project is much smaller than the Crossroads proposal: instead of 5,000 slot machines, Category Three licenses permit only 600 machines, with 50 table games.

By Scot Andrew Pitzer

Copyright © 2010 – Gettysburg Times

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No Casino Gettysburg Informational Meeting will be held on April 15th at 7:00 pm.
It will be held at:

Gettysburg Fire Hall
35 N Stratton St
Gettysburg, PA 17325-1820
(717) 334-7548

Photo Courtsey of Ron Maxwell

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The developers, identified as Penn Harris Gaming L.P., have filed a petition for a “resort casino” license, said Doug Harbach, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.

Resort casinos are smaller than full-size casinos, such as Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course. A resort casino is limited to 600 slot machines and 50 table games. The Hollywood Casino, for example, has more than 2,000 slots machines.

Pennsylvania law requires a resort casino to be at least 15 miles from an established venue; the Holiday Inn property is about 25 miles from the Hollywood Casino in East Hanover Township.

Only one resort casino license is left to be awarded, and the deadline for applications was Wednesday. The developer hoping to build a resort casino outside Gettysburg also filed his application Wednesday.

Other applicants for the final resort license include Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Fayette County, Fernwood Hotel and Resort in the Poconos, and the Crowne Plaza Reading in Wyomissing, Berks County.

By Donald Gilliland

Copyright © 2010 – The Patriot News

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Mason-Dixon Resort and Casino, led by Gettysburg native and former Conrail CEO David LeVan, submitted its formal application to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board on deadline Wednesday.

Members of the No Casino Gettysburg group — wearing anti-casino buttons and T-shirts — filled two rows at Wednesday’s meeting of the Gaming Control Board, even though the Gettysburg project was not on the agenda and was not discussed.

The plan calls for an overhaul of the Eisenhower Hotel. A resort casino license would allow for 600 slot machines and 50 table games.

The plan has reignited opposition forces that first organized to battle a larger casino proposal from LeVan four years ago.

Susan Star Paddock, head of No Casino Gettysburg, said the resort casino would be too close to the Civil War battlefield, despite being in an existing structure.

She also said a casino would be inappropriate for the family-friendly image of the town. Paddock argues that it would hurt the town economically, both by driving away tourists and by drawing a majority of its revenue from residents who gamble there.

Proponents argue that the casino would add jobs to the area and increase business opportunities.

LeVan has publicly committed to giving Adams County people an advantage in hiring should the casino be approved.

The architectural renderings of the proposed casino show a newly landscaped facility incorporating local wood and stone.

“Flashy casinos have no place here,” LeVan said in a statement. He called the design “respectful of our area’s rich historical heritage.”

The Gaming Control Board will schedule public hearings on all the proposals before making a decision.

By Donald Gilliland

Copyright © 2010 – The Patriot News

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Gettysburg businessman David LeVan is leading an effort to bring 600 slot machines and table games to the Eisenhower Resort and Convention Center in Cumberland Township.

Selling points are jobs and geography. The investors say proximity to Maryland will tap a whole new market. But critics point to Gettysburg’s historic past. The thought of a casino near the land where the blue and gray clashed has them seeing red.

“Would you want a casino at our national sites like Shanksville, where the September 11 crash happened?” said Jim Paddock of the group No Casino Gettysburg. “It wouldn’t be appropriate. It’s not appropriate at Gettysburg.”

A handful of protesters showed up at a Gaming Control Board meeting in Harrisburg even though their issue wasn’t on the agenda. Board spokesman Doug Harbach said the concerns of residents will be heard before a decision is made.

“We’ll hear from all the citizens, the public officials, and they’ll know when we come into the town to collect that information. We’ll be very transparent with the process,” Harbach said.

abc27 has learned that Gettysburg has picked Penn National to operate its casino, meaning they’ve joined forces with what could have been an enemy. If history is a guide, they’ll need as many allies as they can find because there is plenty of resistance.

“This is not the place to do this,” Paddock said. “We’re a small rural town. It’s just not the place.”

An earlier attempt to build a much bigger casino was rejected in 2006.

Wednesday was the deadline to apply for Pennsylvania’s final resort casino license, which allows up to 600 slot machines and 50 table games.

Mason Dixon will compete with four others, including a group that applied for a license to operate a casino at the Holiday Inn Harrisburg West in Hampden Township, Cumberland County.

The Gaming Control Board also has applications from Nemacolin Woodland Resort and Spa in southwestern Pennsylvania, Fernwood Hotel and Resort in the Poconos, and the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Reading.

ABC27 News

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Plans for the Mason-Dixon Resort & Casino are now in the hands of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.

Attorneys for Mason-Dixon delivered the plans privately Wednesday to the state gambling regulators.

Mason-Dixon is a Category 3 resort casino – the smallest type in the state – with only 600 slot machines and 50 table games.

Mason-Dixon, to be built on the site of the Eisenhower Hotel and Conference center in Cumberland Township, Adams County, is competing with four other casinos for the state’s final Category 3 license.

Sources said Penn National Gaming – operator of Dauphin County’s Hollywood Casino – is the proposed operator for Mason-Dixon.

On the same day of the application filing, about a dozen members of the group “No Casino Gettysburg” sat in a monthly gaming control board meeting in Harrisburg’s Strawberry Square office building, silently showing their opposition.

The group objects to the casino’s placement about a half-mile south of the historic Gettysburg Battlefield.

A poll commissioned by Mason-Dixon in March and conducted by pollster Terry Madonna concluded 62 percent of Adams County residents support the casino.

The project’s developer, businessman David LeVan, said it will bring more than 400 jobs and increased gaming revenue to the state.

The gaming control board will now review Mason-Dixon’s application.

“There are a myriad of factors that have to be taken into account by the board,” Doug Harbach, director of communications for the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, said. “They’ll put all that together and then they’ll choose the right project.”

Harbach said it will likely take the gaming control board several months to complete the review of the Mason-Dixon application.

Copyright © 2010, WPMT-TV

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