Garden Grove Resurrects Casino Idea

Faced with growing budget deficits, Garden Grove officials have renewed their interest in developing Orange County’s first Las Vegas-style hotel-casino. But even the project’s boosters doubt it will ever be built.

“Personally, I don’t believe we’ll ever get one here,” said Mayor Bill Dalton. “But I don’t want to strap the staff from looking into it.”

On Tuesday night, Dalton broke a 2-2 tie on the City Council, authorizing city staff to resume talks with developers and Indian tribes that were cut off a year ago just weeks after a casino was first proposed by developers.

The idea of a casino resort on Harbor Boulevard near Disneyland, where the city owns redevelopment land, emerged when city officials spoke to the Mesa Grande band of Mission Indians in San Diego County about developing one with Las Vegas casino mogul Steve Wynn.

Although City Manager Matt Fertal said he was still in contact with tribal officials, an Indian casino in Garden Grove -- envisioned with a 1,000-room hotel -- would require complicated land transfers among the city, tribe and federal government, as well as federal and state approvals.

Fertal said that although the council’s action opened the door for the city to accept proposals, it “didn’t sound like we were given direction to go out and solicit proposals.”

“But it does give us a lot of latitude in how we review proposals,” Fertal said. “If somebody like a Steve Wynn or Donald Trump called, we’d now be able to meet with them.”

Councilman Mark Leyes, who along with Councilwoman Janet Nguyen voted no, said the city should stop discussing the “idiotic” notion of such a project.

“I don’t think Garden Grove should be known as home to the only casino in Orange County,” he said. “I’m not saying a casino is immoral. It’s out of character for what we’re trying to do in Garden Grove, and that’s present a family-friendly image.”

A few months before the November 2004 City Council election, the council voted unanimously to stop talks with the gambling industry weeks after word spread that four council members had met with Wynn. Wynn later said he wasn’t interested in developing a Garden Grove casino.

But a new council and projections that the city’s budget deficit will balloon to $11 million in three years prompted some to advocate reconsidering a casino.

City officials have estimated that such a casino could bring in up to $20 million a year in tax revenue, and the idea was embraced by a committee of business and civic leaders given the task of finding new revenue sources.

Tuesday’s meeting to consider the committee’s recommendation drew about 50 people. Of the 12 who spoke, half were for and half against a casino.

“There are so many people from this area traveling all over to go to casinos,” said resident J.T. Williams. “Let’s keep them here and give people a chance to spend their money at home.”

But Wiley Drake, a Buena Park minister, said Garden Grove could become another Atlantic City.

“Atlantic City is the armpit of the East Coast,” he said. “If you beat these other cities to the punch, you’ll be punched silly.”

Among others opposed to a casino are Curt Pringle, mayor of the tourist-dependent city of Anaheim.

“If this were to take place, you’d have a potential precedent set that could have many other tribes making similar deals,” he said last week. “It’s a very serious issue. A casino in Garden Grove has some very negative long-term effects for Orange County. I’m not at all interested in looking the other way.” He said the proposal clashed with the Disneyland area’s family atmosphere and both cities’ redevelopment plans along Harbor.

Disneyland officials also voiced their opposition, saying a neighboring casino would run counter to the park’s business of providing family entertainment.

In May, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger issued a proclamation against Indian casinos in urban areas.

“The proclamation was issued in order to provide guidance and clarity to tribes, developers, investors and communities that may have been seeking to develop projects that the governor was not going to support,” Schwarzenegger spokesman Vince Sollitto said Wednesday.

The Tribal Alliance of Sovereign Indian Nations, a group of 13 tribes in the Inland Empire and Santa Barbara County, also came out in opposition to a casino in Garden Grove. In a letter, the group asked city officials to “abandon the flawed proposal” and “focus on more feasible solutions to the city’s fiscal challenges.”