Hotel Missing From Casino Building Plans

The Santa Ynez Band of Mission Indians unveiled bare-bones construction plans showing another parking structure and the huge footprint for a new three-story, 190,000-square-foot casino to replace the existing facility.

But it’s what hasn’t been revealed that created a buzz last week: the possibility of a hotel atop the proposed casino.

There are no plans to add two more floors in a third phase to house a hotel, Chumash tribal Chairman Vincent Armenta said. But Armenta said it could be a future option.

“The first feasibility study two years ago had the option of a hotel,” he said. “It’s not as if it’s something that was pulled out of the air. It was mentioned a long time ago.”