
There’s a heady bouquet of acrimony emanating from the Napa Valley at as soon as, where winemakers are turning claret with rage throughout the possibility of a casino besmirching their fertile soil and lush areas.
The casino may be part of an ambition that is long-term the Mishewal Wappo Tribe of Native Americans, for whom the Napa Valley is really a historical homeland, that is presently suing the US federal government for federal recognition. The Wappo leaders are wanting to restore the federal status they lost underneath the California Rancheria Termination Act of 1958, which specially affected small tribal groups in California.
Recognition would allow the tribe to circumvent local zoning and to pursue economic development, which would theoretically allow it to create a casino without seeking approval from the community. California currently has 65 casinos operated by 64 various tribes.
Based on research by Los Angeles-based Beacon Economics, tribal gaming supports about 56,000 jobs in California and, in 2012, the state’s casino workers took home $2.9 billion in wages.
Casino Would ‘Upset Agricultural Balance’
But the problem with a casino amongst the world-famous vineyards of the Napa Valley, as the vintners aim out, is that a Napa County legal ordinance offers priority to ‘agricultural land use,’ and discour […]