A community forum was held at Ellisboro Baptist Church Tuesday night to discuss concerns about the possible rezoning of land on Highway 220 in Rockingham County. Hundreds pouring in to express opposition to the development. Many mentioned the possibility for crime, as well as environmental concerns. Hoping whatever is needed to bring in more revenue to the county, can be redirected somewhere else instead."That can be done through factories, wellness clinics, grocery stories, any form of employment that would attract job and citizens to move here and work." on concerned citizen said.According to Rockingham County Planning Board, an application was filed in June to rezone 192.74 acres from Residential Agricultural to Highway Commercial. The applicant, NC Development Holdings, didn't specify the use of the land, but residents and those at Camp Carefree fear it'll be a casino.Camp Carefree is a camp for children with chronic illnesses or special needs. It's located on Carefree Lane in Stocksdale. The proposed rezoning would be located adjacent to the camp. Camp Carefree's property manager, Chis Rodenbough, said, "We don't even want the zoning change." Rodenbough said a commercial property next to their camp will affect them. He said it'll go from a quiet residential area to something completely different. “The light pollution, the noise pollution, in the fact that yeah, we'll have towering buildings that will look right over our entire campus," Rodenbough said. Rodenbough said Camp CareFree has been around since 1986. He said it's more than just a place and that it means so much to the children.“The children have so many memories here. There's memorials to campers we've lost all over the camp," Rodenbough said.Elected local, state and federal officials who serve the county were invited to attend the meeting. Rockingham county Sheriff Sam Page was among those present, who also opposed the rezoning request. "In my opinion, nothing good will come from establishing a casino in Rockingham county or in the state," page said. "But things associated with gambling, we will see some good and we will see some bad."There's also a Change.org petition with thousands of signatures to stop the rezoning request. The petition called, "Stop rezoning request 2023-12 192 acres to commercial property," already has 2,662 signatures. The Rockingham County Board of Commissioners will hear about this this rezoning request at their meeting on Aug. 21. WXII has reached out to the zoning applicant, NC Development Holdings and asked what they plan to do with the property if approved. We also asked specifically if they plan to build a casino. We did not hear back yet. Currently, commercial casinos aren't allowed in North Carolina. Senate Leader Phil Berger recently told WXII's Bill O'Neil that legalizing casinos could end up as part of the budget. \