Critics say Park Place’s casino deal could take years

Anny Kud

Tuesday, May 2, 2000 | 1:04 a.m.

ALBANY, N.Y. - The proposal by the world's largest gambling company to build a casino for the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe at a Catskill resort was criticized Tuesday by dissenting tribe members and local officials.

Opponents said Park Place Entertainment's deal with Kutsher's Resort Hotel and Country Club would mean spending years to get federal approval before any actual work could begin.

"I don't see any possible way they're going to shortcut it. I don't see anything that can get anybody excited in the next five years," said former Chief Phil Tarbell.

Under a deal reached Monday, Park Place acquired the option to purchase the 1,400-acre Kutsher property and entered a definitive agreement to buy 50 acres of land that would be transferred in trust to the Tribal Council.

On that 50-acre slice, Park Place would be expected to build a casino for the Mohawks and operate it for seven years.

The Mohawks had been linked for about five years with Catskill Development Corp., a firm that acquired a 30-acre parcel near Monticello Raceway and in April received federal approval to put the land in a trust. That step is necessary for the Mohawks to use non-reservation land for a casino.

Critics have accused Park Place of trying to derail plans for any casino in the Catskills to avoid competition for the casinos in Atlantic City, N.J. A Sullivan County casino would be about 75 miles from New York City.

Tarbell and 28 other dissenting Mohawks filed a $12 billion class-action lawsuit last week against Park Place, its chief executive Arthur Goldberg and chief counsel Clive Cummis. The suit accused Park Place of interfering with the tribe's earlier deal with the Catskill Development.

Tarbell, who serves on the board of the tribe's Gaming Authority, said as far as board members were concerned, the tribe's original agreement with Catskill Development is "still in the works, still moving forward."

A spokeswoman for the Tribal Council said the agreement with Park Place signed April 14 included a $3 million payment to the tribe and exclusive rights to develop and manage future Mohawk casinos in the state. But the deal did not include the Kutsher property.

Rowena General said a concrete location was not specified in that agreement and that the council is "still under discussions" with both Catskills Development and Park Place.

"It's too preliminary to release any information at this point," General said.

Lloyd Kaplan, who represents Catskills Development, declined to comment on the status of Catskill Development's deal with the Mohawks in light of the Tribal Council's new agreement with Park Place. But he added that the company is "exploring our options with other tribes" for developing a casino on the raceway site.

Park Place officials did not return a telephone call seeking comment.

Since federal approval was granted only for the raceway property, any new agreement on land outside that land would have to go through a separate federal review process, said Stephanie Hanna, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Interior.

Hanna said there is "no way to know" how long the department would take to review a new application.

A federal review process would take anywhere between three to five years, said Raymond Pomeroy, chairman of the Sullivan County Legislature. In that period, the "legislative climate in Albany and Washington could be dramatically changed," he said.

"There's a window of opportunity to get this casino done at the Monticello Raceway. By starting the process all over again, that window is shut," Pomeroy said.

He added the Monticello Raceway has the overwhelming support of the local hotel industry. Shifting the casino construction to the Kutsher land would generate less support because the hotel on that property would have an advantage.

Pomeroy said he has cautioned the Mohawks that the county would be "reviewing with other tribes" if the final casino location is not on the raceway.

The site proposed Monday, in the Town of Thompson, has been in the Kutsher family for nearly 100 years and was a focal point of the Catskills' heyday as an entertainment destination.

Park Place, owner of 28 casinos including Caesar's Palace and Bally's in Atlantic City, N.J., plans a 160,000-square-foot casino with up to 2,000 guest rooms. It would also include several gourmet and themed restaurants, 50,000 square feet of retail space, up to 100,000 square feet of convention and meeting space, a 1,500-seat theater and a championship golf course.

But Thompson Supervisor Anthony Cellini said the new deal is unfair for residents who have waited for nearly five years to get approval for the Monticello Raceway project.

"It's not fair to the residents, to put them on the roller coaster ride they've already been through," Cellini said.

Gov. George Pataki, who favors a casino in the region, said things are "very confusing" in light of the new deal.

"We need clarifications before we can take any further steps at this point," Pataki said. "The entire federal process will have to be done over again. That's what appears to be the case."