On December 15th, 2008, the DeBary City Council dismissed a proposal for a poker room in their horse racing track, putting an end on months of speculations about whether gaming would be coming to this small city. Before an audience of several hundred people, the council voted three-two against rezoning for the DeBary Town Center and Equestrian Park.
The three council members, who opposed the proposal cited concerns about increase in traffic, organize crime and whether city had thoroughly evaluated the gaming proposal. Mayor George Coleman said after the vote that he personally thinks that it is too big of a gaming operation to come in, adding that the safety on the nearby roads near the propose horse racing track ad poker was also an important factor in their decision.
The horse racing track poker room was undoubtedly the most talk about issue in DeBary's history as a city, with both sides on the issue waging aggressive campaigns to convince the council of their side of the issue for several months.
Opponents of the proposal including the Daytona Beach Kennel Club and Poker, a potential competitor of the planned Horse Racing Track and Poker Room, put up a billboard calling the planned project a casino facility, held rallies against the plan and launched online sites against the project.
03/01/2009 19:40 PM