Little Rock officials said they won’t cut a land-use deal with the Quapaw tribe of Oklahoma if it plans to open a casino on 160 acres it owns in Arkansas.
The Little Rock Port Authority and Quapaw tribe have a tentative deal in place, which would enable the tribe to visit the land, but the Port Authority halted the deal when the tribe sought to place the land in federal trust.
If the tribe places the 160 acres in federal trust, Little Rock no longer will have regulatory control or authority over its use, and local community members voiced opposition to that plan, voicing concerns the tribe might decide to build a casino on the site.
So long as the tribe seeks federal trust status for the land, the Port Authority said it won’t go through with the tentative agreement. The drafted agreement would allow the tribe to visit the site and observe archaeological efforts on it, in order to protect cultural and historical sites.
Meanwhile, the Port Authority said the matter has distracted it from other economic development projects and no longer wants to spend time on it while the potential for federal trust status remains.
State lawmakers also voiced concerns that the tribe, which is based in Oklahoma, might eventually use the land to build a casino that largely would be free from local regulations if it were built on land placed in federal trust.
Responding to the concerns of lawmakers and local residents, the Port Authority halted the process.
