California | Litigation | Openings & Closings

Enterprise Rancheria to break ground on Class II gaming facility

Friday, June 19, 2015

The Enterprise Rancheria plans to build a gaming facility on this site along Forty Mile Road south of Yuba City. Image from Google Maps

The Enterprise Rancheria of California plans to break ground on a Class II gaming facility within 60 days, according to a notice filed in federal court earlier this week.

The tribe secured approval from the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Gov. Jerry Brown (D) for an off-reservation casino in Yuba County. The project, however, remains in limbo due to litigation from rival tribes with existing casinos and reluctance from the state to enter into a new Class III gaming compact.

With no end in sight to the dispute, the Enterprise Rancheria is moving forward with gaming, although on a smaller scale. Plans call for a 10,000 square-foot facility on the 40-acre site that was placed into trust by the BIA in December 2012.

The Enterprise Rancheria will build a 10,000 square-foot gaming facility on a small portion of a 40-acre site that was placed in trust in December 2012.

"The Temporary Facility will be strictly limited to Class II gaming, and therefore will not require a tribal-state compact," the June 15 notice states.

The tribe signed a Class III gaming compact with the state in August 2012. But lawmakers never approved it due to opposition from rival tribes, including the United Auburn Indian Community and the Cachil Dehe Band of Wintun Indians, also known as the Colusa Indian Community.

Those two tribes are suing the BIA for placing the Enterprise Rancheria's site in trust. The notice was filed in court as part of that case.

The Enterprise Rancheria has since reapproached the state for a Class III compact. But Brown is refusing to come to the table in light of Proposition 48, a statewide referendum that resulted in the rejection of an off-reservation casino for the North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians.

The Enterprise Rancheria is now suing Brown, accusing him of failing to negotiate in good faith as required by the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. The North Fork Rancheria is doing the same.

The Enterprise Rancheria's gaming site is located along Forty Mile Road, close to the Sleep Train Amphiteatre.

Get the Story:
Tribe says it will start small casino construction in Yuba County (The Yuba City/Marysville Appeal-Democrat 6/19)

Bureau of Indian Affairs Documents:
Press Release | Fact Sheet | Two-Part Determination Letter

Federal Register Notice:
Land Acquisitions; Enterprise Rancheria of Maidu Indians of California (December 3, 2012)