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Pomo
unveil plans for scaled-down casino
A Sonoma County Indian tribe unveiled plans Wednesday for a scaled-down
version of its proposed
New-look
"It is fundamentally flawed," said Hans Hemann, chief of staff for
Assemblywoman Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, whose district includes
The two-story casino, proposed for a 9.5-acre lot owned by the tribe,
would be more than twice as large as the 148,000-square-foot Costco store
in
River Rock Casino, operated by the Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo
Indians in the
Last summer, the Lytton Pomo plan for a casino with 5,000 slot machines
and up to 600,000 square feet created a political firestorm.
The tribe immediately cut the number of machines in half, but the uproar
prompted Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to withdraw his deal with the tribe
from legislative consideration.
The deal, known as a compact, remains controversial because the
Tribal officials said the revised plans were fashioned after a monthlong
"listening process," a series of meetings with
It will pay 25 percent of gaming revenue, about $155 million a year,
to state and local governments.
The revised plan emphasized that the casino
will not use any Vegas-style neon signs or include a nightclub,
entertainment venue, hotel, spa, shopping arcade or convention center.
It will be "tastefully designed to relate to downtown San Pablo," with
115,000 square feet of gaming space, a large parking structure, and strict
controls on serving alcohol, the tribe said.
Hancock opposes any casino larger than the 70,000-square foot card
room that now occupies the tribal property, Hemann said.
The Legislature, which conducted an informational hearing on the proposal
last month, has not scheduled reconsideration of the newest casino proposal.