Opposition mounts to Las Vegas-based companys Reno plans
A group of residents has launched a petition drive against a Las Vegas-based companys plans to build a major resort in south Reno, saying it will worsen traffic and crime.
"This is one of the most beautful areas in Reno and it looks like Las Vegas is coming here," said Lee Tanner, who is leading the drive against Station Casinos Inc.s plans.
With the help of the Culinary Union, Tanner is organizing the Citizens Against Casinos in Neighborhoods and its No South Reno Casinos campaign.
The union helped the group set up a Web site, assist in research and print flyers, Tanner said.
"The real battle is people who live in the South Valleys do not want the casinos. We would take help from anybody," she told the Reno Gazette-Journal.
Lesley Pittman, Station Casinos government relations vice president, said the proposed resort would be comparable to its Green Valley Ranch luxury hotel-casino in Henderson.
Designed in a palatial Meditteranean style, the property features a 55,000-square-foot casino, 496 rooms, a large spa, a beach and pool area, a nightclub, restaurants and shops.
Station Casinos has not yet made public an artist rendering of the Reno resort.
"We are mobilizing to introduce ourselves in the community," Pittman said. "When we show pictures of the Green Valley Ranch, we can fill in that vacuum that exists out there."
But some residents said they fear for their families if the resort is built in the Redfield Regional Center at the junction of U.S. 395 and Nevada Routes 431 and 341.
"I have worked in six casinos," resident Frank Fanelli said. "If you want prostitution, alcohol, drugs and traffic, thats what they bring. I dont want this over by my kids."
Bill Eadington, a University of Nevada, Reno economics professor, said study after study shows casinos do not significantly boost crime rates.
Eadington said he expects the resort to be the only large casino built in Washoe County this decade because of the sluggish tourism market.
The Redfield Regional Center plan is scheduled to go before the Reno City Council on Nov. 2. Plans call for the center to eventually be annexed to the city of Reno.
2005-09-12
