The Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians, a California-based federally recognized tribe, was granted on Tuesday an extension of its existing agreement with Sonoma County. Under it, the tribe will be prevented from building a casino on a certain portion of land located south of Petaluma for the next 9 years.
And under the terms of the original deal between the county and the Dry Creek Tribe, the latter was banned from establishing a gambling venue on the 277-acre parcel until the spring of 2016. The new compact between the two parties also prohibits the tribe from taking the said land into trust up until 2024.
If it had been allowed to take the parcel into trust, the tribe would have been able to build whatever it wanted on it without having to comply with the Sonoma County zoning regulations.
County officials said that they were content with that turn of the events as they will have a bit more time to discuss and figure out what exactly the tribe would like to do with the portion of land.
The Indian nation opened the so-called River Rock Casino back in 2002. At that time, it was the only gambling venue within Sonoma County. More than 11 years later, the Federated Indians of the Graton Rancheria launched its own casino – Graton Resort and Casino. The $800-million facility was direct rival to the Dry Creek one and impacted heavily its profits.
For instance, the Dry Creek Tribe did not manage to pay guaranteed payments to Sonoma County and even filed for debt restructuring. At the same time, county officials were concerned with the opportunity for the tribe to open yet another casino or other source of revenue on the Petaluma parcel. In 2006, residents of the area voted in favor of a measure that prohibited the construction of another gambling venue.
Chris Wright, Chairman of the tribe, had previously said that they had not planned to establish a casino on the site. He pointed out that they are more likely to build a commercial development instead.
Having agreed to refrain from taking the land into trust, the Sonoma County decided to waive several of the payments the tribe had missed to make. In addition, it had its annual contribution to the county reduced from $3.5 million to just $750,000.
