Tule River Tribe gains support for moving casino to a new site

Wednesday, October 26, 2016

The Tule River Tribe owns and operates the Eagle Mountain Casino in Porterville, California. Photo by Tamara Evans

The Tule River Tribe of California is moving forward with plans to relocate its casino to a new site.

The tribe wants to move the Eagle Mountain Casino to land it owns within the Porterville Airport Industrial Park. The city council in Porterville voted 4-1 in support of the effort, The Porterville Record reported.

“We are trying to get this done as quickly and as efficiently as possible and in a way that meets both of our needs,” tribal council member Gary Santos said at a city meeting on Tuesday, the paper reported. “We have great expectations that this will get done.”

According to the paper, the tribe will be pursuing the casino as an "off-reservation" development. That apparently means the tribe intend to follow the two-part determination provisions of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.

If that's the case, the tribe would need to secure approval from the Bureau of Indian Affairs and from the state governor. Local support could help ensure success for the effort.

The tribe had submitted a land-into-trust application for the 40-acre site at issue but withdrew it in 2013 amid local opposition.

The site offers more space for an expansion and is a lot closer to Porterville and to major highways.

Read More on the Story:
Council backs tribe’s casino relocation effort (The Porterville Recorder 10/26)
Tribe seeking support for casino relocation (The Porterville Recorder 10/25)