Card Club Backers Taking Surveys, May Turn to Ballot

A group of investors whose plan for a $60-million card club failed to get the support of the City Council is conducting polls in Anaheim and other Orange County cities to determine whether to put its proposal on a ballot.

“We want to see what the feeling of the community is,” said James Trow, who is heading the investment group for the planned 200-table card club and entertainment center.

Trow declined to say where other than Anaheim the group was polling residents. He said a decision on whether to pursue a ballot measure will made by mid-April.

The investors were initially hesitant about putting the issue before voters because of the costs involved with running a campaign.

But they changed their plans after being publicly rebuked by the council last November. At that time, the investors tried to bypass the voters and persuade the council to pass a law that would permit card club casinos in Anaheim.

But the proposal was met with criticism from city residents concerned that a casino would attract criminal activity.

Swayed by the public outcry, the council refused to consider the matter. Furthermore, the city attorney questioned the legality of the investors’ proposed law.

The council’s rebuff took the investment group by surprise. For the past several months the group has been reviewing its options and meeting with community leaders. Several members of the investment group, formerly known as Southland Entertainment Properties Inc., have dropped out while others have been recruited, Trow said.

One of the reasons the group has not given up on the proposal, Trow said, is that it never got an opportunity to adequately discuss the project at a public hearing and detail the potential benefits of a card club to city officials.

As presented to the council, the project would be the largest card club in Southern California and would include a restaurant, a retail shopping concourse, a theater and a corporate convention center. It would be built in the industrial area of northeast Anaheim.

The investors said the casino would create about 2,200 jobs and could bring $11 million a year into city coffers.

Councilman Fred Hunter, who has long opposed the proposal, said Thursday that he believes there is little support in the community for a gambling center.