The Coquille Tribe of Oregon is again promoting the idea that the federal government should put land in Medford into trust for the tribe—which would allow it to operate a casino on that land.
The tribe currently operates the Mill Casino in North Bend. KOBI News reports that it proposes to repurpose a bowling alley, Roxy Ann Lanes, into a second casino, with 30,000 square feet, including 16,000 square feet of gaming space with 650 slot machines, a bar and other services. The bowling alley casino is the latest of a series of proposals going back 10 years.
The city of Medford is now weighing in on the project. So is a neighboring tribe that is not supportive of the proposal, which is spelled out in a 250-page environmental impact report by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). It is accepting comments until February 23.
Medford City Attorney Eric Mitton set the table for the city’s consideration of the proposal, which would place the land “into trust what that means is basically giving it sovereign designation which is part of establishing a casino under Oregon law,” adding, “We’re working on analyzing what we think would make this city whole in terms of services provided to sovereign land and the financial consequences that coincidence with that.”
He noted that the EIS provides a few “different options related to the coquille tribe and gaming.” They include, 1) a casino on undeveloped property in Phoenix, five miles from Medford; 2) expansion of the Mill Casino, or 3) no additional casino. Mitton’s staff report also included impacts to public safety, transportation, building safety, stormwater and planning posed by the proposed casino.
He pointed out that ultimately the BIA will decide if the land is put into trust.
Members of the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians listened with disapproval. One member, Terri Hansen, declared, “I don’t approve of the casino at all. I was born and raised here and I don’t want to see it put other tribes out of business, it will affect our tribe as well as Klamath Rain Rock and I still stand for one tribe, one casino.”
Greg Lemhouse of the Coquille tribe countered, “This is about this local economy, this local community and the benefit to it. I understand another tribe or business may see it as competition but that’s the nature of our market to compete.”
