At a community meeting on Richmond’s Southside Thursday evening, Urban ONE’s chief executive Alfred Liggins told community members that the company is no longer supported holding a casino referendum this November.

Liggins, Urban ONE CEO, said the state budget language “has created a conflict, a legal conflict and a huge cloud of doubt” over efforts to hold a second vote on the casino.

In March, a judge told the city that they could place the casino on the ballot again after voters rejected it by a narrow margin in 2021.

But a state budget amendment passed earlier this year and championed by state Senator Joe Morrissey bars the city from holding another referendum until 2023, giving the state a chance to conduct a study on the potential benefits of locating a casino in Petersburg.