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Commissioners raise community concern over Horsemen’s Lodge land transfer and potential gaming development
Summary
During roundtable, commissioners discussed the recently completed land transfer that brought the Horsemen’s Lodge property into trust and the potential for a large gaming facility. Commissioners called for a clear county explanation of how the transfer occurred and noted wide community concern about impacts.
Several commissioners used the Dec. 4 study-session roundtable to raise concerns about the transfer of the Horsemen’s Lodge property into trust and the implications of a planned gaming operation.
Commissioner Best asked staff for a report on the status of Horsemen’s Lodge, saying the change was a "bombshell" for some residents and asking whether there was any ongoing county relationship with the property. Commissioner Wilson expanded on community concerns, recounting his role as co-chair of the Doney Park area plan rewrite committee and describing committee efforts to preserve community character. He said the committee had worked to incorporate protections and community input but that those efforts had not prevented the land transfer.
Wilson described the legal pathway that led to the transfer: changes in federal practice, he said, allowed a land settlement to be processed through the Bureau of Indian Affairs without mandatory public-notice requirements that had previously applied. He told the commission residents adjacent to the property are worried about potential effects: a gaming operation the compact contemplates could include as many as 300 gaming devices and more than 100 employees, he said. Adjacent residents, Wilson said, are concerned about sewage, water sourcing, fire and emergency-service arrangements and the alteration of local character. "The character of Doney Park that our area planning committee worked so hard to try to preserve, has been destroyed at least in that little part," he said.
Commissioner Revels summarized staff and legal observations reported elsewhere in the session: federal officials treated the transfer as a land-settlement matter tied to the 1974 Land Settlement Act and therefore concluded the regulatory notification previously required under the Code of Federal Regulations was not necessary in this instance.
Commissioners asked for a clear, publicly available county explanation of the transfer process and next steps for public services and infrastructure (sewer, water, fire/EMS) if a gaming operation proceeds. County staff did not provide new approvals for a gaming facility at the study session; commissioners emphasized the need for transparent communication to affected residents as the process moves forward.
