53.5 acres of land have been put in trust. This is a legal requirement. Still in question is the 135 acres that were purchased near the Arizona Cardinals stadium and if it can be put into trust. This land was bought by the tribe years ago. Currently the land is considered to be part of Glendale and therefore cannot be considered part of the reservation.
Tohono officials are confident that they can have plans redesigned to allow
for more than a casino. It would be a $550 million facility with a shopping
center and resort. The casino would be built on reservation land as required by
law.
The major hurdle is related to the 1988 federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.
There are special requirements for tribes to have casinos on land that were not
part of the reservation before 1988. The Tohono tribe must prove that they
qualify for an exception.
In 2002 voters approved gaming expansions that tribes can operate. This also
increased the amount of slot machines they may have and have rights to casino
style gaming. Voters were assured that if accepted. Gaming would be limited to
tribal communities that already existed. Not take place in areas off the
reservation.
However, an exception to the law allows for casinos to be operated on land
acquired by "the settlement of a land claim". In 1986 the tribe was paid $30
million by congress in the purchase of 10,000 acres of tribal land in the San
Lucy District. It was flooded by a dam. The money paid to the tribe was to
purchase new land in Pinal, Maricopa, and Pima Counties. Under the law, the land
was allowed to be considered part of the reservation as long as it was not in
any city limits.
In 2003, a tribe own company called Rainer Resources Inc. purchased the property
near the stadium. It was undisclosed until early last year who the owners were
when the tribe attempted to make the land part of the reservation.
Currently, the Gila River casinos are the closest gaming facility to the West
Valley.
Return to Arizona Casinos.
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