Backed by local investors, a band of Indians from the Miwok
tribe is seeking support from San Benito County officials to build
a casino adjacent to Highway 25 that could be opened within two
years and would cost as much as $300 million.
Backed by local investors, a band of Indians from the Miwok tribe is seeking support from San Benito County officials to build a casino adjacent to Highway 25 that could be opened within two years and would cost as much as $300 million.
The group has held meetings with several county officials, including local Supervisors Pat Loe and Reb Monaco and Santa Clara Supervisor Don Gage. And it recently hired a high-profile San Jose public relations firm to promote the plan that would include building a 50,000 to 100,000 square foot resort just south of the Santa Clara border on Highway 25.
Although such a project could create 1,500 to 3,000 jobs while invigorating the local tourism industry, the group acknowledges a casino’s construction would call for a speedier-than-planned expansion of the rural highway. Sheriff Curtis Hill, meanwhile, staunchly opposes the idea, saying it would lead to more crime and damage the local environment.
Two supervisors reached Thursday, Loe and Monaco, said it’s too early to form a stance on the casino proposal. Incoming Supervisor Jaime De La Cruz said he’ll keep an open mind if it progresses, especially considering the jobs and revenues a casino would generate.
“I’m assuming if they want to do this and they’re serious about it, they would have to look at traffic improvements on that road,” Loe said.
The tribe and its investors are early in the courting process, said Phillip Thompson, the attorney representing the group. But if county supervisors support it, the casino could be built, and opened, in 18 months to two years, Thompson said. There’s no official proposal before the county.
Even with board of supervisors support, the Indian tribe would have to acquire land and obtain approval from the state to conduct gaming activities.
During that stage – which could take one to two years alone – the Bureau of Indian Affairs would have to sign off on environmental, cultural and historical reviews before a deal could be struck, according to Thompson.
The federal government recognizes the Miwoks as a sovereign nation and, therefore, its members can avoid local government controls when developing land.
“They don’t have to ask us (Santa Clara County) for a thing,” said Rachael Gibson, Gage’s land-use policy aide, Thursday. “That aspect is one that rankles local governments.”
Thompson declined to disclose the name of the tribe. But Gage, who spoke to a group of investors Tuesday, confirmed the Miwoks, mostly located on the Northern California coast, are behind the casino idea.
Gage refused to identify the local investors, saying, “They want to remain anonymous.” But he did say that one is from Gilroy and two are from San Jose. He didn’t know where the other two reside.
Thompson also declined to divulge their identities, though he said 85-90 percent of the financiers are from either San Benito or Santa Clara counties.
The group is intent on obtaining property along Highway 25 near the county line after previously examining land closer to Hollister city limits, and properties in San Joaquin, Alameda and Stanislaus counties, Thompson said.
Before they move forward, the group wants to gain widespread support from elected officials – particularly at the local and state levels. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger must approve a gaming pact or the project will have no chance.
“In order for this to happen we’re going to need the governor to sign off on it, and the governor wants the locals to sign off on it,” Thompson said, adding the group also would want federal support before moving forward.
Thompson didn’t say precisely where the casino would go, but it’s “very close, with an emphasis on close” to the county border, he said.
It’s unclear who owns the property the tribe wants to purchase. Three partnerships own large tracts of land in that vicinity – the O’Connell Ranch, Tri-Cal and the Rancho Gavilan Corp., according to assessor’s office records. None of them could be reached for comment Thursday.
Aside from the casino resort ranging in size from 50,000 to 100,000 square feet, Thompson also foresees the potential for a couple of “high end” restaurants and an entertainment venue.
He said it would be similar in size to the Cache Creek casino in Yolo County – a 66,000 square foot facility with 1,762 slot machines and 120 table games, according to the resort’s Web site. There are a total of 53 compact Indian casinos in California, according to California Gambling Control Commission documents.
Aside from hiring Thompson, a national legal expert on Indian gaming operations, the tribe and its investors also has hired a major P.R. firm out of San Jose, Orlaff Williams & Company.
Thursday, one of the firm’s partners, Nancy Williams, declined to confirm or deny most details of the group’s intentions. And while she called the potential project “very, very premature” in the planning stages, she added, “Things are moving very quickly.”
Her firm was hired to help the group communicate with the public. Thompson said he expects some opposition and, if a project progresses, the group would be open to comments and suggestions from concerned residents. Getting it built, he said, will take “a lot of compromise” from reasonable people.
On the group’s list of concerns, the widening of Highway 25 is near the top, Thompson said. Local and state governments are spearheading the widening of the road from two to four lanes but don’t expect that to be done for another five to seven years.
“Maybe our investment can be the catalyst for a more rapid situation,” Thompson said.
There’s no doubt, he said, the group is serious about building a casino in San Benito County. They’ve already committed money to it, even though it’s nowhere near a done deal, he said.
“Everything being spent at this stage is risk money – a big-time risk,” Thompson said.
Hill, though, said county officials should be wary as the group will no doubt offer money and other inclusions to sweeten the deal.
Hill said the group already has offered to build a satellite sheriff’s office near the casino, a notion, like the casino as a whole, he’s “absolutely opposed to.”
He has communicated with other law enforcement officials throughout the state who have experienced the impacts of a new casino, he said. And he doesn’t like what he’s been hearing.
“We’re going to go ahead and take those funds to the detriment of our quality of life,” Hill said.
Thompson, though, said the group is willing to work with the county and its residents.
“We want to adopt their standards as our standards,” he said.
Gage isn’t ready to pass judgment on the casino idea yet. There’s too much he still doesn’t know. Do the casino builders need to submit an environmental impact report? How would they handle police and fire coverage, and waste disposal?
“I’ve never been involved in one of these processes,” he said. “There will obviously be impacts, but there could also be some benefits.”
About a year ago, someone briefly approached Gibson, Gage and some other local leaders with an idea to build a casino between San Martin and Morgan Hill, but they later backed out, according to Gibson. Gage said he didn’t know if there is any connection between that effort and this one.
Sylvia Hamilton, a grass-roots leader in an effort to make San Martin a city, remembered getting a call from a person she would not identify. She would oppose a casino, she said.
“I was hoping that (idea) just kind of drifted into the sunset,” she said.
Miwoks run several casinos throughout the state, but they have no historical ties to the area, according Valentin Lopez, a tribal council chairman for the local Amah-Mutsun Indians.
Amah-Mutsuns are associated with Mission San Juan Bautista and Mission Santa Cruz, where they were baptized. They are Costanoan – or Ohlone – Indians, which inhabited the land from San Francisco to Monterey.
Staff Writer Peter Crowley contributed to this report
