Mississippi regulators have rejected two proposed casino sites on the state’s Gulf Coast for a second time.
The three-member Mississippi Gaming Commission met behind closed doors for about 90 minutes earlier this month before publicly rejecting the sites, the Biloxi Sun Herald reported.
The commissioners did not explain their unanimous decision, but it is known that Executive Director Allen Godfrey recommended the sites?one proposed by RW Development in Biloxi, which was shot down back in 2008, the other by Jacobs Entertainment for Diamondhead, also rejected in 2014?be denied.
It was believed the rejections were based on the conclusion that both lie outside allowable development areas.
Mississippi law generally limits state-regulated casinos to sites touching water along the Mississippi River or the Gulf Coast, but that was altered after Hurricane Katrina caused widespread destruction in 2005, prompting legislators to allow coast casinos to develop slightly inland.
But Gulfport Mayor Billy Hewes, who was in the state Senate when legislators changed the law after Katrina, has publicly criticized the two proposals, saying they were too far inland.
Michael Cavanaugh, attorney for both developers, said he would meet with his clients to decide whether to appeal the latest rejection.
