The Bureau of Indian Affairs is holding a public hearing on the casino proposed by
the Wilton Rancheria of
California.
The hearing takes place on Friday in Galt. Chairman Raymond Hitchcock said the meeting represents another step in the land-into-trust process.
"It is a long, slow process, and this is just one more step to get land in the trust," Hitchcock told The Elk Grove Citizen.
According to the draft environmental impact
statement, the tribe plans to use a 282-acre site in Sacramento County for a 601,780 square-foot facility that would include a 110,260 square-foot gaming floor, a 12-story hotel with 302 rooms, a 48,150-square-foot convention center and a parking lot with 3,500 spaces. The land sits off a major highway about 25 miles south of Sacramento.
The tribe's federal recognition was reaffirmed
in 2009. Presumably, that makes the tribe eligible for an exception in
Section 20 of the Indian
Gaming Regulatory Act that applies to newly recognized tribes.
Get the Story:
Indian casino plan up for public review
(The Elk Grove Citizen 1/27)
$P Federal Register Notices:
Draft
Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Wilton Rancheria Fee-to-Trust
and Casino Project, Sacramento County, California (December 29, 2015)
Notice
of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Wilton
Rancheria Fee-to-Trust and Casino Project, Sacramento County, California
(December 4, 2013)
Related Stories:
Wilton
Rancheria anticipates lengthy process for gaming project (01/13)
Wilton
Rancheria sees BIA movement on long-awaited casino bid (01/04)
Wilton
Rancheria at impasse with city over stalled casino bid (10/29)
Wilton
Rancheria still waiting for BIA movement on gaming plan (02/27)