- Details
- By Chez Oxendine
- Gaming
The Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians won city approval for a temporary gaming facility in its long-running effort to bring gaming to Vallejo, Calif., even as its larger casino project remains under federal review.
The Vallejo City Council this week approved a memorandum of understanding with the tribe that sets terms for police, fire and water services at a temporary Class II gaming facility on tribal trust land.
Opposing tribes say the city moved ahead before the Department of the Interior resolves the project’s eligibility for gaming.
The agreement also sets mitigation payments. Scotts Valley will pay the city $402,000 a year for public safety and administrative costs plus a one-time $100,000 activation fee. The tribe will also provide at least $100,000 a year to local nonprofits.
The temporary project is small compared to the $700 million resort the tribe has proposed. Plans call for two modular buildings totaling about 5,400 square feet, with up to 100 Class II gaming positions. A third modular building would house tribal offices. The facility is expected to operate during limited daytime and evening hours and will rely on food trucks and prepackaged items instead of a full kitchen.
An impact report prepared for the city by consultant AP Triton projects about 801 vehicle trips a day. It also estimates first-year public safety costs of roughly $766,000, dropping to about $524,000 in later years as operations stabilize.
City staff said the MOU is designed to keep those costs off local taxpayers by requiring Scotts Valley to fund police and fire services tied to the facility. The agreement also requires the tribe to maintain 24-hour private security, install surveillance cameras, share incident logs with police and comply with fire code standards.
“Vallejo is not just a project site, it’s our homeland,” said Chairman Shawn Davis in a statement. “We’re developing our land with a preview casino to help build stability and opportunity for our families.”
The MOU does not cover Scotts Valley’s larger Class III casino proposal. That project would require a separate intergovernmental agreement and additional environmental review. It also depends on a pending decision at the Department of the Interior.
Interior agreed in January 2025 to take the Vallejo parcel into trust for Scotts Valley and found it eligible for gaming under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act’s restored lands exception. Less than three months later, the agency rescinded that gaming determination, saying it needed to consider additional evidence from neighboring tribes that challenged Scotts Valley’s historical ties to the site.
Scotts Valley sued, arguing the rescission violated the Administrative Procedure Act and the tribe’s due process rights. In October, U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden agreed in part, ruling that Interior had infringed the tribe’s due process rights by revoking the determination without notice or a chance to respond. He vacated the rescission but allowed Interior to continue reconsidering the project as long as it followed proper procedures.
That reconsideration is still underway. Opposing tribes, led by the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation, say the city should have waited for Interior’s decision before entering into an agreement tied to gaming on the site.
“Tuesday night’s decision by the Vallejo City Council to move forward with a Memorandum of Understanding for Scotts Valley’s temporary gaming facility raises serious concerns about process, transparency and public trust,” said the Yocha Dehe Tribal Council in a statement sent to Tribal Business News. “This is not a process that reflects genuine public engagement or informed decision making.”
Yocha Dehe and allied tribes also point to McFadden’s warning that Scotts Valley would be “ill served” by relying on its temporarily restored eligibility while Interior reconsiders the case.
They argue the temporary casino risks getting ahead of federal law and could deepen divisions among tribes in the region.
Scotts Valley maintains that the preview facility complies with federal law because Class II gaming does not require a state compact. The MOU notes the city has no authority to approve or deny the modular structures and instead focuses on services and impacts within city jurisdiction.
The agreement includes off-ramps if the federal process turns against the tribe. If Interior ultimately finds the land ineligible for gaming, Scotts Valley’s obligation to make certain mitigation payments is automatically suspended, and the tribe can terminate the MOU. The city would then stop providing temporary services.
The tribe has not released an opening date for the temporary facility. Work on utilities, security systems and required inspections is underway, and the project will move forward as those steps are completed.
