SEARCH NEWS:

 

Council Extends Ban on Gaming Projects outside Downtown

SPARKS -- The Sparks City Council has extended a ban on unrestricted gambling projects outside the downtown area after a public outcry against a proposed casino in Spanish Springs.

The council voted 5-0 on Monday to prolong the moratorium until Oct. 31. It applies to new casinos without at least 200 hotel rooms.

Spanish Springs resident Roy Adams, spearheading a petition drive against a casino planned near his home along the Pyramid Highway, said the extension was bittersweet.

"It gives us more time to collect petition signatures and generate more support," Adams said. "It's also more duration. There is a desire to have this done with and concluded favorably."

Council members voted to extend the moratorium established in April 2004, extended in February and set to end in July which prohibits casinos without at least 200 rooms outside the downtown core.

Planning staff recommended extending the ban so fiscal, traffic and gaming studies on neighborhood casinos could be completed.

City planner Margaret Powell estimated the studies could be finished by the end of July with staff ready to make a recommendation to the council by September.

Copyright © Las Vegas Sun. Inc. Republished with permission.

< Gaming News