Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Poll: Residents don’t want neighborhood casinos

SPARKS -- A majority of people in Sparks and Spanish Springs say they don't have a problem with casinos in the downtown area, but they don't want them showing up in their neighborhoods.

Sixty percent of 802 Washoe County voters polled in the telephone survey said they didn't want a casino near their homes. The poll, conducted in June by MarkeTec Inc., has a margin of error of 3.5 percent.

Officials for Red Hawk Land Co., which is proposing an 18,000-square-foot resort-casino with at least 200 rooms along Pyramid Highway just north of Lazy 5 Regional Park, were not aware of the poll results and would not comment. The company is headed by Reno lawyer and gaming lobbyist Harvey Whittemore.

Sparks officials ordered the survey as part of studies into traffic and economic impacts to determine the effects of neighborhood gaming.

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