Casinopocalypse Soon, Maybe: New Bill Could Move Casino Out of Tysons to Another Place With a Bunch of Boxy Buildings (Hint: Here)

Hey, remember that time there was a big push in the Virginia legislature to build a fancypants national security honeytrap casino in Fairfax County, with a lot of sketchy provisions that would really only allow it to be built in either Reston or Tysons, and then after a lot of hubbub, the bill was killed, and then after even more hubbub, it came back but the language was refined so said casino could literally only be built on the site of one used car lot in Tysons, which, you know, Tysons LOL, and then the bill was killed coldpilled, which sounds like a mid-tempo early oughts band and not a legitimate parliamentary maneuver, but we digress, and then it came back again and was killed by the state house?

Yeah, that was awesome. Well, this week, the bill re-emerged from the dead, and all that language about the Tysons used car lot was stripped out, meaning that the casino could be built anywhere in the county, including another Metro-adjacent area with fewer used car lots and more tall buildings, not all of which have sides that intersect at 90-degree angles, including ones owned by casino-curious companies which in the past have donated significant amounts of money to pro-casino state lawmakers and tried to outright buy local elections. Sound familiar?

The Reston Association board voted to oppose the changes in Senate Bill 756, saying:

Reston Association is disappointed at the news that SB 756, which would allow for a casino in Fairfax County, was amended to remove location-specific language in the bill and passed through the Senate Finance and Appropriations Resource Subcommittee yesterday morning. Reston Association maintains that a casino is detrimental to our community and goes against the careful planning that has been a part of Reston for more than six decades.

Reston Association has consistently and unequivocally opposed the idea of a casino in Reston. Our members have never expressed a desire or need for such a facility. Reston is a proven economic engine with a robust commercial tax base, world-class corporations, and innovative technology firms. Introducing a casino would jeopardize this success, as companies considering relocation have indicated such a development would make the corridor a “no-go zone” for future investment.

We don't know, though. One Action McNews story described the proposed casino as "classy," like "Wynn in Las Vegas," but that would be a total violation of contemporary Reston design cues. Just look at this thing:

While we appreciate the DRB-friendly choice of goldenrod as a colorway, that curvy building with those rounded edges simply don't fit in with this:

Get a carpenter's square and some woonerf and we'll talk, the end.