NORFOLK, VA – The Pamunkey Indian Tribe and its development team has submitted a preliminary site plan for HeadWaters Resort & Casino to the City of Norfolk. This submittal follows several months of productive meetings between the city and the tribe to keep the process moving forward.
The preliminary site plan now includes an overall layout of the project on the site, offsite roadway improvements, utility connections, site elevations, rough grading, and drainage. Included in the submittal was a project narrative that described the complete development and outlined two stages of construction. While the tribe plans to build the project in two consecutive phases, the application process will be done once for the entire resort and casino.
The submittal of the preliminary site plan initiates the process to obtain final site plan approval necessary to start construction of the project. The tribe plans to file an application for final site plan approval and an application for a development certificate prior to Dec. 11, 2023, which will enable the applications to be considered by the Norfolk Architectural Review Board in January 2024 and considered by the Planning Commission in late January 2024, followed by the City Council hearing the applications in February 2024. Concurrent with the processing of the applications, the tribe and its development team will be working with the city to amend the existing agreements and implement other measures to start construction as soon as possible after the applications are approved and permits granted.
“Our team has been meeting routinely with city staff to review the project plans and discuss the development timeline,” said Robert Gray, Chief of the Pamunkey Indian Tribe. “We want to get this project up and running as soon as possible to start generating revenue for our tribe, for the other recognized Virginia tribes that will benefit from this project, and for the City of Norfolk, its citizens and the Commonwealth of Virginia.”
HeadWaters Resort & Casino won city approval with an overwhelming majority of residents voting in favor of the project in November of 2020. Once fully operational, the project is anticipated to create thousands of jobs and provide tens of millions of dollars in annual tax revenue for the city, as well as generating nearly a billion dollars in annual economic impact for the area.
