No casino plans for Petaluma land, Dry Creek Tribe says

The Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians is still several years away from developing a parcel of land just south of Petaluma, a tribal property that has long been the source of much scrutiny and speculation over potential developments planned for the site, including a casino or large shopping center.

While Chris Wright, the new chairman, said the Dry Creek tribe has no plans to pursue a casino on the 277-acre parcel wedged between Highway 101 and the Petaluma River near Kastania Road, he said the tribe is interested in building a commercial development to make up for declining revenue at its River Rock Casino in Geyserville. City and county officials remain watchful of the property and are concerned that a large retail development offering tax-free shopping could add traffic and siphon off sales tax revenue from local government.

Wright, who ousted former chairman Harvey Hopkins in November, said the tribe’s first priority is getting River Rock Casino’s finances in order. The casino’s revenue took a huge hit when the Federated Indians of the Graton Rancheria, a rival tribe, opened the $800 million Graton Resort and Casino outside of Rohnert Park in 2013. River Rock reportedly missed bond payments, and the tribe reduced payouts to tribal members.

“Everything is on the back burner right now while we negotiate our bonds,” Wright said. “Nothing is going to happen over night. It’s going to take time. We’re not thinking about the Petaluma property right now.”

Since Dry Creek bought the land in 2004, there has been speculation that the tribe would seek to build a casino on the site. Petaluma voters in 2006 overwhelmingly passed an advisory measure to oppose a casino.

But, after the Graton tribe opened its gambling palace, speculation again increased that the Dry Creek tribe would attempt to leapfrog Graton with a Petaluma casino closer to the lucrative Bay Area market.

Wright ruled out a casino on the land.

“It’s not in the cards,” he said. “A casino off reservation is too hard” to get approved.

Federal law prohibits gaming on tribal land that is acquired after 1988, unless there is approval from the governor, local officials and neighboring tribes, which is unlikely.

Graton received an exemption since its tribal status was restored in 2000.

However, Wright said retail space, such as a wine or tobacco shop, could be in future plans.

“We would love to have some economic development,” he said. “I wouldn’t rule out retail stores. Anything would help.”

Supervisor David Rabbitt, who is co-chair of the Indian Affairs Committee of the California Association of Counties, has been following these developments closely. He said a massive, big box-type commercial development just off Highway 101at the county’s southern fringe would create more traffic in a spot that is already congested, and cause economic hardships for local governments.

Rabbitt pointed to states like New York and Connecticut where tribes, including the Oneida Indian Nation and the Mashantucket Pequot, have built large shopping centers and undercut the local sales tax base. He said Petaluma, which has worked recently to attract stores like Target and Friedman’s Home Improvement, could suffer.

“Building a 10,000-square-foot shopping center and not talking to local jurisdictions is just plain wrong,” he said. “Say what you will about casinos, but if tribes branch off into other ventures, it has consequences. We want to make sure any impacts are properly mitigated.”

Since the land is currently not an Indian reservation, the tribe would have to seek county approval and follow the General Plan and state regulations for any on-site development. But the tribe could ask the federal government to take the land into trust, which is also the first step to getting a casino. With sovereignty over the land, the tribe would have fewer restrictions on development.

Wright said that there is currently no application with the federal government to take the land into trust, but added: “Every piece of land we own, we’d like to get into trust.”

He said that the tribe has heard several proposals from the community for the land other than commercial developments, including a composting facility to replace the soon-to-be-shuttered Sonoma Compost and a large solar array that would generate electricity to sell back to Sonoma Clean Power.

“We get all kinds of ideas,” he said, stressing that the tribe is not near a decision on a plan. “I think we have years before things turn around. We have to focus on what we have right now” at River Rock Casino.

Petaluma City Councilman Mike Healy, who pushed for the advisory measure to oppose a Petaluma casino and was part of the legal effort to block the Graton casino, said that the city could back certain uses for the land, such as agriculture, or agricultural support.

He said the city is prohibited from providing retail drinking water and sewer service to the property since it is outside of the voter-approved urban growth boundary, but the city could extend a recycled water pipe from its wastewater treatment plant just across the Petaluma River if the tribe wanted to, say, plant a vineyard.

“If they are interested in ag or ag support, they would find a good reception at City Hall,” he said. “If it was large retail, then we’d have a fight.”

(Contact Matt Brown at matt.brown@arguscou rier.com. On Twitter @MattBrownAC.)