Cascade Locks Casino
After almost 10 years, the saga of the Cascade Locks Casino continues. A hearing was held in September before the Hood River City Council where too many cars and too few affordable housing options were the prevailing themes.
Nearly 70 people attended the hearing to give the City Council input on six questions put to the City on the potential impacts of a casino in the Hood River area. Of the 22 citizens to speak, 19 opposed the casino. Two Cascade Locks residents and one Hood River citizen spoke in support, along with officials from Cascade Locks agencies and Hood River County.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs Northwest Regional Office has asked the city to weigh in on the positives and/or negatives of having a gambling center built in Cascade Locks. City Council called the hearing to gather community input, which was taken in writing through Sept. 29, 2008. Bernard Seeger, Cascade Locks city manager, said that his city is well-positioned to respond to demands for increased services given the studies it has done on public services, and the tribe's promises of $1.1 million in annual payments once the casino is up and running.
Most testimony centered on the BIA, which asked about impacts on "infrastructure, services, housing, community character, and land use patterns.” North Cheatham, of Hood River, said the council must consider the traffic impacts on Hood River, predicting freeway delays of 30-45 minutes; and Holly Lund, of Mosier, said casino traffic would result in bottlenecks that will discourage people from traveling to Hood River and increase the demand on Hood River ambulance and emergency response services, which are already strapped.
All input from the public and from city staff, including police, fire and finance, will be considered in a report to BIA. It’s now just a waiting game to see what the Portland regional office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs will submit as a final written statement to the U.S Interior Secretary.
New Casino Discussion: French Prairie – Wilsonville
The northeast part of French Prairie, south of Wilsonville along the I-5 corridor, is the area under pressure for development. This includes Langdon Farms Golf Course and the land north of the Aurora Airport, all of which is once again being considered for commercial/industrial development by real estate developers and the Klamath Tribe. If this should happen, this "door way to French Prairie” could open, allowing significant development along I-5, and taking out large quantities of agricultural land in the process.
The Oregonian reported that a Mega casino just south of the Willamette River on Oregon's historic French Prairie is either in the works or completely off the table, depending on who is doing the talking. A series of letters and meetings regarding potential commercial and industrial development in the area has land-use advocates concerned that the rural landscape stretching from Wilsonville south to Salem could, sooner rather than later, be altered forever.
"If you are looking at either a 400-acre trucking distribution center or a huge casino there, the options are between horrendous and outrageous," said Ben Williams, spokesman for Friends of French Prairie, which opposes large-scale industrial development south of the Willamette. "Pick your poison; it's either cyanide or arsenic."
Chris Maletis, who with his brother, Tom, owns much of the land in question, said Williams' group and others are using scare tactics when they claim the Klamath Tribes are trying to gain approval to build a huge casino and related facilities in northern French Prairie. "I don't know how many times we have to tell them that there is absolutely nothing related to a casino being planned for this area," Maletis said. "They are throwing up nothing but a smoke screen and they know it."
Maletis acknowledged, however, that the Chiloquin-based Klamath are working to acquire as trust land acreage near his Langdon Farms Golf Course for eventual conversion to commercial and perhaps industrial uses. "We're definitely in discussions," he said. "Just where those will lead, we're not sure yet."
Although interpretations differ, the tribes are relying on federal legislation, the Klamath Indian Tribe Restoration Act of 1986, to make the case that they can take the Maletis' property "into trust" and use it for economic development purposes.
La Center Casino:
US Representative Brian Baird from Vancouver, Washington, requested and obtained an extension of the waiting period on the environmental impact statement from June 30 to August 12, 2008.
Although the waiting period has ended, there has been no federal decision announced yet. The feds can make a decision at any time now, but there is no statutory deadline.
In the meantime, as reported in the Columbian newspaper on August 17, 2008, the cities of Vancouver and La Center fired off letters to the Bureau of Indian Affairs dismissing the massive Environmental Impact Statement as "shabby and inadequate."
The City of Vancouver, in its 9-page letter, criticized that study and requested that it be withdrawn because it did not consider the implications when the proposed casino site was removed from the urban growth area. (It is now zoned as agricultural land.) The letter also criticized the study for failing to address the impact of the casino on local traffic within the City of Vancouver.
The City of La Center, in its 20-page letter, criticized the study and the Cowlitz tribe for only offering to mitigate lost cardroom taxes for ten years instead of for the life of the casino. La Center also believes the casino will cause the cardrooms to go out of business, rather than remain in business with the projected 66% decline in their revenue. The City requested that a supplemental study be done.
The Columbian newspaper also ran an editorial about the proposed casino and the cities' letters regarding the quote "frightening details about traffic" and stating that the "data-driven case for rejecting the casino proposal emerges as more convincing than ever."
ORA will continue to track the pending casinos, and report any significant activity.
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