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Hard-Nosed Bargaining Slows Tribe's Casino Plan

CANYONVILLE, Oregon – As reported by the Oregonian: "Oregon's Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Indians wants to build a lavish tourist hub clustered around its casino, complete with shops, maybe an 18-hole golf course and an amusement park to put some kick back into the former mill town of Canyonville.

"State highway officials have their own plans for the Interstate 5 interchange at Exit 99 24 miles south of Roseburg that includes two cracked bridges that need fixing.

"It's not a large area, so the two groups merged their plans.

"The tribe has agreed to build and operate a public rest area that would drum up business for its truck center and save taxpayers at least $200,000 a year. Oregon Department of Transportation officials have agreed to move an off-ramp a quarter-mile north to better handle the increased traffic.

"But in the way of these grand plans stand Clarice and Harvey Denison, who once owned the frontage property being developed by the tribe. The proposed changes would leave the Denisons' custom-built retirement home landlocked, trapped by the new off-ramp on one side, the rest area on another and trees everywhere else.

"What complicates this triangle -- and could create hassles for the transportation department -- is a headstrong cast of characters, years of sore feelings and the eternal struggle over what a piece of land is worth…"

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