Commission approves Lyon County casino, rejects 3 others

Gov. Chet Culver is congratulating Lyon County on successfully landing a state casino gambling license today and is pledging to help three communities that were rejected with their efforts to create and preserve jobs.

Five members of the state Racing and Gaming Commission today voted to approve a license for a proposed northwest Iowa casino near the South Dakota border that will provide 700 jobs and tourism opportunities when it opens in July 2011.

The commissioners also voted 5-0 to reject gaming license applications for casino projects in the Tama County, Fort Dodge and Ottumwa areas. They expressed concern that new gambling enterprises in those areas might negatively impact existing casinos and further saturate a market when gambling revenues are flattening out or declining.

Commission members also indicated it likely will be at least three years and, possibly up to five years, before they would entertain new license applications. Currently, there are 17 state-licensed casinos and two Indian casinos operating in Iowa.

After today's vote, Culver and Lt. Gov. Patty Judge issued a joint statement congratulating Lyon County for successfully securing a new casino project that will help create jobs and stimulate significant new tourism activity from outside Iowa.

Lyon County voters in 2008 approved plans for a $90 million resort, casino and golf course about seven miles northwest of Larchwood, Iowa. The proposed location, which is on an approximately 200-acre property, would be about eight miles from downtown Sioux Falls.

Dan Kehl, chief executive officer of Lyon County Resort and Casino, said he was pleased with today's outcome. He said plans call to break ground on the facility in June and to open the doors for operation in July 2011.

“It's been two years in the making,” he said. “Now we have to build it and staff it and open the doors. That's the fun part.”

Previously, Culver had written a letter to the commission members urging them to issue licenses for proposed casinos in all four counties.

“Although we share the disappointment that is felt by many communities as a result of today's decision by the Racing and Gaming Commission, the lieutenant governor and I pledge to do everything we can to assist communities in Webster, Wapello and Tama counties with their job preservation and creation efforts, now, and in the future,” Culver said.

Tama Mayor Chris Bearden expressed disappointment, saying “we thought we had a good project.” He said parts of the proposed development in Tama included in the casino package will move forward even though the gambling part of the application was not approved.

Commission chairman Greg Seyfer of Cedar Rapids said the five-member panel did not discuss the proposals in advance of today's meeting but all arrived at the same conclusions.

Seyfer said it likely would be three to five years before the commission considered new license applications, although the panel members chose not to impose a moratorium on expanded gambling.