Sault Tribe Denied Land Trust For New Casinos
Officials with the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians said they would continue fighting to construct casinos in Lansing and near Romulus despite a federal decision Thursday rejecting the tribe’s application to have land placed in trust.
The tribe has been working since 2012 to have the two parcels taken into trust for the casino projects. Officials had argued the U.S. Department of Interior was required to take the land into trust for the tribe, which would then give the tribe legal jurisdiction over it.
“We are deeply disappointed in the U.S. DOI’s decision to deny our mandatory trust land petitions for Lansing and Romulus, largely because it is based on a flawed legal analysis and because our Land Claims Settlement Act approved by the Congress of the United States in 1997 clearly requires that the applications be approved,” Aaron Payment, chair of the tribe, said in a statement. “We have no intention of giving up, and we will soon determine which option — legal, administrative or legislative — we will pursue to continue our fight for our legal rights.”
I'm mixed on this - I'm not sure that was the exact best spot for a casino, but I can see the benefit of one being downtown. The project seemed like a long shot. I'm sure the Sault tribe and city will look at legal options here. I also wonder how the new city administration (and future state admin) will handle this issue?
I personally don't think Lansing should have a casino. They don't offer great paying jobs for the area, and they drain a lot of the money out of the area as well. The scholarships it would pay for are the only positive, and I wonder how many scholarships could have been paid for from all the legal fees that have been spent on this so far.
The tribe and city are adamant about pushing forward with this. It's going to be even harder, though, with the new presidential administration. He has a hate for Native American gaming because they were competition with his old Atlantic City casinos, so I don't expect any favorable decisions for this casino coming from the federal government for the next four years. I'm also pretty sure the front-running mayoral candidates really care much about the project since it was really Virg's baby, but maybe they'll take up the fight.
Jared, I agree the jobs created by a casino generally aren't high paying or necessarily the best. (Though I think some Vegas jobs pay well.) I'd add that casinos can encourage crime and excessive gambling obviously is problematic. I suppose we could say similar things about bars. (I personally enjoy sports bars, but with 3 kids, I don't "go out" as much as I used to.) But bar jobs aren't necessarily high paying/lack benefits, can bring crime, excess consumption is problematic, etc. And like casinos, money is probably better spent on other things. (Crime aside, we could probably make similar arguments about coffee shops or ice cream shops )
Like I said, I'm kind of on the fence with this. Potential crime and problem gambling are issues I see, and a lack of expansion possibilities for the Lansing Center. (Though if the potential casino were to fail after opening, hopefully it is built in a way where the vacant space could be used/converted for Lansing Center expansion. Probably wishful thinking.)
On the positive, along with the scholarships, you mention, I think a potential boom to nearby businesses would be a plus. I suppose the casino could be built on the edge of town (near 96/Lansing Rd or 69/Old 27) but, along with sprawl, it wouldn't benefit downtown as much. Just my two cents.
As an aside, I'm not much of a gambler myself. Ok I have solitaire on my phone, but I'm not good at table games/blackjack, etc. I probably wouldn't visit the casino too much myself (perhaps 1-2 times per year for slots, etc.)
Admittedly I haven't done much research on this, but I'd be interested in case studies of other cities similar to Lansing's size that have casinos near their downtown and the effects good or bad.
Michmatters, good points. It will be interesting to see how the new mayor handles this. Even before Verg said he wasn't running again, I was thinking that this casino (if it ever happens) would be built after Verg leaves office.
I honestly think a small casino in downtown would add a "coolness" as in another entertainment option among night clubs restaurants and sports venues. Jobs in the hospitality business can be good paying that depends on the management. Hotels in Lansing could sell more rooms to people who like having a casino as an entertainment option while visiting a city, workers at those hotels would make more money. I am not sure what crime would increase with a casino. A small casino would not turn Lansing into Atlantic City. Gambling addicts can get started at the corner store. Sick people need healthcare, maybe the casino could help pay for it. The whole Indian Tribe thing is kind of a stretch but the reality is that we took all of Michigan away from the Native Americans so I think allowing them to build a casino somewhere besides their own area in OK with me. Detroit has lots of issues we do not have here. The only other places I have been with casinos downtown are Palm Springs and Amsterdam. In those places the casino is just part of the landscape not really causing any extra crime as far as I know.
So, it looks like while the tribe is still very much interested in this, Andy is not.
The plan to bring a casino to downtown Lansing has been in the works since 2012, but due to setbacks, it’s likely it will never happen, according to Lansing Mayor Andy Schor.
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"I've never been shy about the fact that I’m not excited to have it in the downtown,” Mayor Schor said. “I would like to have the dollars and things produced from a casino, that go to our students and Lansing schools, but I think there might be other locations that are better suited for it but at this point, it doesn't matter because the federal government said ‘no’ and that's the answer we have right now.”
The contract for the property is set to expire January 1, 2019. Mayor Schor said if anything changes between now and then, he'll happily reevaluate the plan.
I never really liked the location, it would be a good place for a parking structure next to the Lansing Center. I would rather see a casino as part of a first-class hotel. There are many places that could accommodate such a development in Lansing. Indian tribes do not own the casinos in Detroit is that right? Could Lansing get whatever deal Detroit got to build a casino here? I hate to see the Mayor go all limp on this issue. The gaming issue is similar to the MMJ shop issue. The city already has gambling sites[lottery] and places to buy drugs [tabacco and alcohol] that really do addict and kill many people every day on every corner. But in the minds of some people a casino and marijuana [which is not addictive and helps many] are just too much. Now we are a town of closed pot shops look up and down S. Cedar here in REOtown and Old Town, are a lot of empty dark storefronts better than open businesses employing people and paying taxes? Why not have pot shops, and a casino making tax money to pave the streets and improve our schools?
The mayor's complaint about the location struck me the wrong way. It's funny because this was the complaint we heard from a lot of folks. It just always struck me that these are folks who are probably too use to going to rural or suburban casinos, because the complaint always seemed to imply they wanted it in a place with more "room." You know, some place off a freeway exist at the edge of town surrounded by parking. The plan for this, BTW, always included a parking garage.
As someone who isn't enamored with gaming/gambling, the only big selling point for me for a project like this was its urban location as a way to add another walkable entertainment destination. Like, if you're going to do a casino in the city, you should want it in an attractive entertainment district. In Lansing, the area that we're trying to build up as such is the riverfront. And though it was never directly part of the plan, it was always hinted that a hotel could be a part of this development. There'd been rough plans for years for any expansion of the Lansing Center to include a hotel, and a casino would have strengthened that long-term plan.
So, really the biggest selling point of this was the location for me, anyway. With this out of the way, though, and with the prohibition on the city helping another hotel finally expired, I hope this puts the focus back on developing a hotel behind the Lansing Center.
That would be a great place for a hotel/casino it's true and is really where such a development should be built. Take out the city market and there would seem to be enough room. I was kind of thinking about what they should build if there is no casino built on the small area beside the Center. I think that a casino hotel would be just a part of an entertainment district downtown and adults who are faced with gambling choices every day would just have another choice, I don't think that a small urban casino would not really make gambling a greater issue than it is already.
Comments
From Gongwer:
I'm mixed on this - I'm not sure that was the exact best spot for a casino, but I can see the benefit of one being downtown. The project seemed like a long shot. I'm sure the Sault tribe and city will look at legal options here. I also wonder how the new city administration (and future state admin) will handle this issue?
I personally don't think Lansing should have a casino. They don't offer great paying jobs for the area, and they drain a lot of the money out of the area as well. The scholarships it would pay for are the only positive, and I wonder how many scholarships could have been paid for from all the legal fees that have been spent on this so far.
The tribe and city are adamant about pushing forward with this. It's going to be even harder, though, with the new presidential administration. He has a hate for Native American gaming because they were competition with his old Atlantic City casinos, so I don't expect any favorable decisions for this casino coming from the federal government for the next four years. I'm also pretty sure the front-running mayoral candidates really care much about the project since it was really Virg's baby, but maybe they'll take up the fight.
Jared, I agree the jobs created by a casino generally aren't high paying or necessarily the best. (Though I think some Vegas jobs pay well.) I'd add that casinos can encourage crime and excessive gambling obviously is problematic. I suppose we could say similar things about bars. (I personally enjoy sports bars, but with 3 kids, I don't "go out" as much as I used to.) But bar jobs aren't necessarily high paying/lack benefits, can bring crime, excess consumption is problematic, etc. And like casinos, money is probably better spent on other things. (Crime aside, we could probably make similar arguments about coffee shops or ice cream shops
)
Like I said, I'm kind of on the fence with this. Potential crime and problem gambling are issues I see, and a lack of expansion possibilities for the Lansing Center. (Though if the potential casino were to fail after opening, hopefully it is built in a way where the vacant space could be used/converted for Lansing Center expansion. Probably wishful thinking.)
On the positive, along with the scholarships, you mention, I think a potential boom to nearby businesses would be a plus. I suppose the casino could be built on the edge of town (near 96/Lansing Rd or 69/Old 27) but, along with sprawl, it wouldn't benefit downtown as much. Just my two cents.
As an aside, I'm not much of a gambler myself. Ok I have solitaire on my phone, but I'm not good at table games/blackjack, etc. I probably wouldn't visit the casino too much myself (perhaps 1-2 times per year for slots, etc.)
Admittedly I haven't done much research on this, but I'd be interested in case studies of other cities similar to Lansing's size that have casinos near their downtown and the effects good or bad.
Michmatters, good points. It will be interesting to see how the new mayor handles this. Even before Verg said he wasn't running again, I was thinking that this casino (if it ever happens) would be built after Verg leaves office.
I honestly think a small casino in downtown would add a "coolness" as in another entertainment option among night clubs restaurants and sports venues. Jobs in the hospitality business can be good paying that depends on the management. Hotels in Lansing could sell more rooms to people who like having a casino as an entertainment option while visiting a city, workers at those hotels would make more money. I am not sure what crime would increase with a casino. A small casino would not turn Lansing into Atlantic City. Gambling addicts can get started at the corner store. Sick people need healthcare, maybe the casino could help pay for it. The whole Indian Tribe thing is kind of a stretch but the reality is that we took all of Michigan away from the Native Americans so I think allowing them to build a casino somewhere besides their own area in OK with me. Detroit has lots of issues we do not have here. The only other places I have been with casinos downtown are Palm Springs and Amsterdam. In those places the casino is just part of the landscape not really causing any extra crime as far as I know.
So, it looks like while the tribe is still very much interested in this, Andy is not.
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I never really liked the location, it would be a good place for a parking structure next to the Lansing Center. I would rather see a casino as part of a first-class hotel. There are many places that could accommodate such a development in Lansing. Indian tribes do not own the casinos in Detroit is that right? Could Lansing get whatever deal Detroit got to build a casino here? I hate to see the Mayor go all limp on this issue. The gaming issue is similar to the MMJ shop issue. The city already has gambling sites[lottery] and places to buy drugs [tabacco and alcohol] that really do addict and kill many people every day on every corner. But in the minds of some people a casino and marijuana [which is not addictive and helps many] are just too much. Now we are a town of closed pot shops look up and down S. Cedar here in REOtown and Old Town, are a lot of empty dark storefronts better than open businesses employing people and paying taxes? Why not have pot shops, and a casino making tax money to pave the streets and improve our schools?
The mayor's complaint about the location struck me the wrong way. It's funny because this was the complaint we heard from a lot of folks. It just always struck me that these are folks who are probably too use to going to rural or suburban casinos, because the complaint always seemed to imply they wanted it in a place with more "room." You know, some place off a freeway exist at the edge of town surrounded by parking. The plan for this, BTW, always included a parking garage.
As someone who isn't enamored with gaming/gambling, the only big selling point for me for a project like this was its urban location as a way to add another walkable entertainment destination. Like, if you're going to do a casino in the city, you should want it in an attractive entertainment district. In Lansing, the area that we're trying to build up as such is the riverfront. And though it was never directly part of the plan, it was always hinted that a hotel could be a part of this development. There'd been rough plans for years for any expansion of the Lansing Center to include a hotel, and a casino would have strengthened that long-term plan.
So, really the biggest selling point of this was the location for me, anyway. With this out of the way, though, and with the prohibition on the city helping another hotel finally expired, I hope this puts the focus back on developing a hotel behind the Lansing Center.
That would be a great place for a hotel/casino it's true and is really where such a development should be built. Take out the city market and there would seem to be enough room. I was kind of thinking about what they should build if there is no casino built on the small area beside the Center. I think that a casino hotel would be just a part of an entertainment district downtown and adults who are faced with gambling choices every day would just have another choice, I don't think that a small urban casino would not really make gambling a greater issue than it is already.
https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/local/2020/04/06/kewadin-casino-lansing-wayne-county-lawsuit-sault-ste-marie-chippewa/2863225001/