Despite doubts by some that it can compete against the largest casino in the state, the 540-member Cloverdale Rancheria of Pomo Indians in Northern California is going ahead with plans for a 0 million casino, hotel and entertainment center in Cloverdale.
That would put it mano y mano with the Graton Resort & Casino, which has already come near to shutting down one of the smaller casinos in its immediate vicinity.
The Cloverdale casino proposal is in the final stage of environmental review by the Bureau of Indian Affairs before it designates 65 acres as trust land, which would make it legal to locate a casino there.
Tribal spokesman Rob Muelrath said the size of the final project might actually be smaller than the original proposal of 596,000 square feet. The market will determine the size, he said last week.
Doug Elmets, who represents five California gaming tribes, doubts the wisdom of the tribe in taking on Graton. “They’re going to be trying to build a substantial casino in the shadow of a large gaming enterprise between them and San Francisco,” he told Yogonet. Graton is located along Highway 101, the route that many motorists take to visit the Bay Area, but so is Cloverdale. Both would be competing for the same gaming dollars.
Others doubt that the tribe will be able to get financing for the project.
The tribe has explored building a Cloverdale casino for many years, as long ago as the 1990s. Its current financial partner in the project is Sealaska. This Indian corporation based in Alaska also helped the San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians launch the Valley View Casino in San Diego County a decade ago.
The city of Cloverdale and the County of Sonoma both oppose the casino, but their opposition would be moot if the BIA decides to let it go forward. Support is needed from Governor Jerry Brown, who would negotiate the gaming compact with the tribe. The compact would need the legislature’s approval.
The BIA has given several indications that possible environmental impacts of the project would not be significant, although skeptics say the agency is working with old data.
The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors intends to file its environmental objections to the project by the June 2 deadline for inclusion in the EIR. The board and the city both challenge the assertions that the casino would be an economic benefit to the area. Some critics claim that there is not enough housing in the community to accommodate 1,600 casino employees, which will create a transportation problem. The city also worries that the casino will adversely impact water supplies and that the casino will cannibalize existing businesses.
The BIA could take months or it could take years to render a final decision on putting the land into trust.
The tribe was disbanded in the 1950s by the federal government, but reestablished after a federal court ruled that action to have been illegal. Putting the 65 acres into trust will be a first step towards reestablishing the tribe in its historical location.
The casino, if it is built, will join two existing casinos in Sonoma County, including the Graton in Rohnert Park and Geyserville’s Rock River Casino, plus 11 smaller casinos in nearby counties.
The Rock River Casino, by its own admission, has lost more than 30 percent of revenues since the Graton casino opened last November. It has been forced to drastically cut its labor force and a few weeks ago failed to make a scheduled interest payment on its bonds.
Cloverdale City Manager Paul Caylor told Yogonet, “I think there is really a lot of concern about the business model of an additional northern Sonoma County casino, based on what the Graton casino is doing to River Rock.”
