California Governor Jerry Brown signed a gaming compact with the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, paving the way for a 3 million, 3,000-slot machine casino near Rohnert Park. The project will include a 200-room hotel, spa and several restaurants. It will be built just off Highway 101 in Marin County, just north of San Francisco. With that many slots, the casino has the potential to be the largest in the state.
The project is one of the rare off-reservation casinos approved recently by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
The casino, which will be built in partnership with Station Casinos, has the support of local construction workers, who have been hit hard by unemployment in Sonoma County. An estimated 750 construction jobs will be generated by the casino, which will employ an estimated 2,000 workers full-time.
Opposing it is the “Stop the Casino 101 Coalition,” which characterized Brown’s signing of the compact as a betrayal. Now, the group is targeting lawmakers, who must approve the compact before it goes into effect.
