Perryville is one step closer to having a gaming facility with 1,500 slot machines.

Perryville town commissioners unanimously approved the preliminary site plan for the proposed Hollywood Casino near the I-95 and Route 22 interchange at Tuesday’s meeting.

The casino is phase 1A of Penn National Gaming’s larger plan, known as the Chesapeake Lighthouse Project, which will include a hotel.

The preliminary site plan for the project was approved after Tuesday’s public hearing, where a few amendments were proposed to the plan. No one from the public commented on the preliminary plan during the hearing.

Representatives from Penn National said construction on phase 1A may begin as early as the end of July.

In other business, the commissioners approved the landlord/tenant ordinance, which will become effective Nov. 1.

The ordinance requires all rental properties in town to be licensed on an annual basis.

The ordinance requires the legal owner of a rental facility to obtain a rental housing license from the Town of Perryville before operating a building or dwelling as a rental house, according to the ordinance.

At Tuesday’s meeting, the commissioners also set the fees and fines associated with the ordinance through a resolution.

The resolution sets the annual license for a rental unit at $15, the failure to renew at $250, and the failure to obtain at $500 each day the unit is rented without a license.

The ordinance also specifies, as part of the rental housing license, that the owner shall “consent to inspections by the town before the issuance or renewal of a rental housing license, and during the term of such a license, to determine if the dwelling, dwelling unit or rooming unit for which the license is sought is in compliance with all housing and rental codes and requirements.”

A PILOT, or payment in lieu of taxes, with Homes for America, was approved by the commissioners.

Homes for America is in the process of renovating apartments in Perryville through subsidized financing by the Department of Housing and Community Development.

As part of the project, the Department of Housing and Community Development is requiring a local contribution, which Perryville has done through this 10-year PILOT agreement.

The agreement sets a flat rate for town real estate taxes at $135 per unit.

The town commissioners also approved:

o Corporate resolutions on the town’s two bank accounts to remove former commissioner James Hansen as an authorized signer and add commissioner Michelle Linkey.

o A repayment agreement with Fairgreen Senior Community Apartments for $14,200 owed to the town for development costs to be paid over five years.

o An agreement with the Wilmington Area Planning Council to accept a $35,000 grant for a study on transit-oriented development in the town.

o A total of 13 bids to six different companies for various chemicals needed by the town.

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