Fort Smith rezones to allow for casino gambling

Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2000 | 11:30 a.m.

The rezoning is in preparation for a proposed constitutional amendment that, if approved for the November ballot and passed by voters, would authorize casinos in Sebastian County and five other counties.

City directors voted Aug. 1 to rezone two riverfront tracts, one along Clayton Expressway and the second off Kelley Highway and Interstate 540, to allow for casino gambling. Mayor Ray Baker vetoed the item later that week.

The board voted 6-1 on Tuesday night to override Baker's veto, with director Nan Bartlett dissenting. Some who supported the rezoning said they had learned a lesson from an unsuccessful attempt to stop a strip club from opening.

Reginas House of Dolls II sued the city, which had to pay a $340,000 settlement for not allowing an area in which the strip club could operate. City Administrator Bill Harding said the strip club lawsuit caused city staff to develop proposed casino gambling areas.

"Those who don't learn from history are destined to repeat it, and if we didn't learn from the immediate past, then shame on us," said city director Ben Shipley.

Director Gary Campbell said the board "can't sit with our head in the sand" in the event the gambling referendum is approved.

Directors repeatedly have said the rezoning does not reflect a desire for casino gambling. Many board members have stated opposition to the casino referendum.

Baker defended his veto of the casino rezoning while acknowledging the court's decision in the strip club case.

"I've taught the Constitution for 40 years. I'm convinced judges every day are reading things into the Constitution that our founding fathers never intended," he said.

The proposed amendment to the Arkansas Constitution would authorize Arkansas Casino Corp. to operate casinos in Boone, Crittenden, Garland, Miller, Pulaski and Sebastian counties.

The amendment also would create the Arkansas Gaming Commission, which would set up and operate a state lottery and regulate charitable bingo.