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The North Carolina Supreme Court has agreed to hear Rockingham County‘s appeal in a long-running dispute over a 192-acre rezoning tied to a proposed casino. The court confirmed in a June 19, 2026, order that it will take up the case. Justice Phil Berger Jr. did not take part in the decision; his brother, Kevin Berger, is a Rockingham County commissioner.
North Carolina casino plan sparked zoning fight
The fight centers on a 192-acre parcel west of US Highway 220, near Madison and roughly 20 miles north of downtown Greensboro. Rockingham County commissioners approved rezoning the site in August 2023 to facilitate a potential casino project that supporters said could bring more than $500 million in investment and about 1,750 jobs to the area. The rezoning was sought by an affiliate of Baltimore-based casino developer The Cordish Companies.
The case is less about whether a casino should be built and more about who has legal standing to challenge local zoning decisions. In October 2023, Camp Carefree — a nonprofit summer camp for children with disabilities and special needs — sued the county, joined by other residents, alleging the board of commissioners ignored basic legal requirements and engaged in illegal contract zoning when it approved the rezoning application despite overwhelming public opposition. The bakery Kalo Food and nine neighboring property owners joined the camp in the suit.
A trial judge dismissed the suit in March 2024, citing a lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The North Carolina Court of Appeals reversed that ruling on July 16, 2025, finding the neighbors did have the right to have their lawsuit heard. Judge Allegra Collins wrote the opinion, joined by Judges Donna Stroud and Valerie Zachary, holding that because the rezoning was a legislative act rather than a quasi-judicial one, the plaintiffs didn’t need to plead special damages to establish standing.
County Attorney Clyde Albright then petitioned the Supreme Court in August 2025, arguing the appellate ruling “contradicted prior decisions of the Court of Appeals” and could “significantly increase the potential for litigation for any person residing in the County” who wants to contest local zoning decisions.
Court sides with NC casino opponents
The Court of Appeals noted that before the county’s text amendment, uses such as electronic gaming operations, hotels, fairgrounds, hospitals, and hazardous-waste landfills were not permitted by right in highway-commercial districts. After the amendment, all of these became permitted by right on the property — with no development standards, temporary-use restrictions, or special-use permits required.
The court found that because the plaintiffs’ properties either abut or sit close to the rezoned land, and because each plaintiff had clearly alleged how the rezoning would directly affect them, they had standing to seek a declaratory judgment. Concerns raised in the suit included:
- Worry over the camp’s proximity to a casino
- Traffic from the bakery owner
- Neighbors’ fears about water contamination
- Noise, light pollution, trespassing, and crime tied to the newly permitted uses.
Gambling fight upends NC Senate race
The dispute has reverberated well beyond the courtroom. Senate leader Phil Berger Sr., who represents Rockingham County, had spearheaded the 2023 push to legalize commercial casinos statewide, seeking to write the authorization into the state budget. The effort collapsed in the House Republican caucus that summer.
Records showed Cordish-affiliated donors gave at least $34,000 to Berger and other lawmakers between late 2022 and early 2023, according to Business North Carolina.
That backlash followed Berger into his 2026 reelection bid. In March 2026, Berger conceded his Republican primary to Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page after a recount confirmed Page’s 23-vote lead — a result widely described as a political earthquake, given Berger’s three-decade tenure as the state’s most powerful legislator.
Resentment over Berger’s failed casino push, in a district bordering Virginia, had fueled the challenge from Page, the county’s longtime sheriff. Page had been a vocal critic of the casino plan, which Berger ultimately abandoned, and argued Berger had lost touch with his constituents.
North Carolina casino ruling could set precedent
If the Supreme Court ultimately sides with the plaintiffs, the case returns to a trial judge for further proceedings on the underlying claims. According to the Carolina Journal, a ruling against the county could make it considerably easier for North Carolina residents generally to challenge local zoning changes in court — the outcome county officials are trying to avoid.
Supporters of the original development argued it would create jobs, draw tourists, and generate tax revenue; opponents countered that environmental harm, infrastructure strain, and long-term social costs outweighed those gains. With the case now before the state’s highest court — and with the political landscape in Rockingham County reshaped by Berger’s primary loss — the ruling is likely to carry weight for similar zoning fights statewide.
