We’re heartened by reports that casino backers are listening to
South Valley concerns about their original site and are considering
a new location. But let’s not be fooled.
We’re heartened by reports that casino backers are listening to South Valley concerns about their original site and are considering a new location. But let’s not be fooled.
When the plans for a Miwok Indian-owned casino were announced, many South Valley residents worried about traffic and environmental problems associated with the planned site near the Santa Clara County line off Highway 25, in addition to general opposition to a casino.
So, casino backers began looking around for a less troublesome location.
“After these last few months, Hwy. 25 seemed to be a sore spot with law enforcement and locals,” casino project manager Gary Ramos told reporter Jessica Quandt. “So we got input from several local businesses and local leaders and they said where they thought it should go, and we took that input and started mapping out a region.”
We don’t know much about the new site, just that it’s near the Hollister airport and further from Santa Clara County. The new site might address environmental concerns – it’s hard to say without the precise location, which casino backers won’t reveal – but it clearly won’t reduce traffic concerns in San Benito or Santa Clara counties.
“The problem is the same thing as on Route 25 – they’ve got to find access to a major roadway,” Santa Clara County Supervisor Don Gage said.
He’s exactly right.
No matter where in San Benito County you place a casino, visitors will have to drive to get to it. No matter where in San Benito you place a casino, it will have dramatic impact on traffic in the rural county.
The backers of the casino are smart; they’re showing flexibility by considering another location for their business. But we urge South Valley residents and leaders to remember that any location will have dramatic traffic impacts on our region. Before any casino construction permits are issued, those impacts and others must be adequately mitigated.
But that’s not even the real question. Nearly any impact can be mitigated. What we want to see is the solid proposal for what the casino backers are planning to build and what benefit a casino would provide to the county and city.
Until then, a change of location doesn’t resolve our concerns about a five-member tribe from another part of the state opening a casino in our county. What it does do is raise the question, do we want Hollister to be a community that is a focus for gambling and the problems it brings with it? To that, we still say no.
