Building begins on casino near Bay Area

Don Thompson

Tuesday, May 28, 2002 | 9:34 a.m.

SACRAMENTO -- Construction has begun at the site of a temporary Indian casino slated to be built this year overlooking the Alexander Valley vineyards and the Russian River in Sonoma County.

Four million people live within a two-hour drive of the River Rock Casino intended to draw from the San Francisco area market, the casino's developers have estimated.

Neighbors object that the location is inappropriate, while gambling opponents say it's too close to the Bay Area, 75 miles to the south. Nearby property owners have sued, as has a former development partner.

Still, preliminary construction has already started, said Liz Elgin DeRouen, chairwoman of the Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians. That includes roads, a wastewater treatment plant and holding tank, and concrete pads for 22 houses for rancheria residents who have been temporarily displaced during construction.

Despite the delays and changes in the plans, she said, the tribe hopes to open the casino this year.

Developers originally wanted an 80,000-square-foot structure to hold 1,600 slot machines, 50 table games and dining and entertainment areas. Now the casino has been scaled back to two Sprung structures -- high-tech tents of a synthetic material stretched over an aluminum frame, DeRouen said. One is about 40,000 square feet, the other smaller.

While the tribe is licensed for 1,600 slot machines, she said, all may not be installed, and the tribe plans to offer fewer table games.

Building the casino would be illegal, opponents said, because the tribe hasn't finished the process of becoming a federally approved reservation.

Gambling opponent Cheryl Schmit of Stand Up for California asked federal officials to intervene last week. Alexander Valley Association attorney Dennis Whittlesey in March made the same arguments to state and federal officials without success.

Tribal attorney Jerome Levine said opponents' legal reasoning "would undermine a century or more of Indian policy."

"It's a perfectly legal, perfectly sound project on tribal lands," Levine said. He blamed the dissent on a small group of nearby land and business owners.

Carmen Fazio, an official with the Pacific region of the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, said the rancheria is not in trust for the tribe, which opponents contend is a legal requirement for any casino.

But Hilary McLean of the governor's office said the tribe has a state compact to operate a Las Vegas-style casino, meaning it has proper federal recognition. Greg Bergfeld, regional chief for the National Indian Gaming Commission, said the tribe also has a valid ordinance with the commission that would let it operate a casino.

The plan faces several legal hurdles, however, over an access road, plans to build over a free-running creek, and from a former developer who had an earlier agreement with the tribe. Tribal leaders have said they dropped Las Vegas gaming promoter Mark Advent and his partners because the investors didn't provide the funding they promised.

Before the delays, the new developers had hoped to open the temporary casino by midyear, to be operated by the 704-member tribe on the 75-acre rancheria. Another 150 people are awaiting tribal membership, DeRouen said.

Houston-based Nevada Gold and Casinos Inc. is the majority stakeholder among investors who jointly own 51 percent of Dry Creek Casino LLC, while the tribe owns the minority share. Other investors include Jenkins Entertainment Group, Wintun Lodge and Pathways Consulting, which described themselves as gaming operators, architects, land planners and engineers.

The tribe agreed to pay its outside investors 20 percent of the casino's net revenues for five years. Nevada Gold officials did not return repeated telephone calls last week from the Associated Press.

Last week heavy equipment leveled hilltop homes vacated by tribal members, said Homer Dollar, the only remaining neighbor. A tribe member, Dollar has refused to move and opposes any casino on what he considers sacred land.

Nearby residents Larry and Candy Cadd spent Wednesday afternoon fighting unsuccessfully to keep more earth-moving equipment from moving onto the site over their access road. They have a lawsuit pending over whether the tribe can use their road for the casino.

The Alexander Valley Association has filed notice it plans to sue, alleging the tribe and developer have not obtained proper environmental clearances, said association president Karen Passalacqua. It's considering a suit over the land's legal status as a reservation, she said.

"It's devastating to the valley," Passalacqua said of plans for a high-traffic, high-volume casino. "A casino is inconsistent with the kind of (rural, agricultural) life that's out here." Wine country tourists aren't looking to gamble, she said.

The association offered to help the tribe find an alternate location off Highway 101 that could handle the increased traffic, she said.

That's an option for a permanent casino, said DeRouen -- but it's too late for the temporary casino.

"This is our land, and we're perfectly within our right to do that," DeRouen said. However, "we're looking out to make the best rapport that's possible with anybody that's willing to talk with us."