Madera County, Calif., to Get Indian Casino
Source Associated Press Alert via NewsEdge Corporation
MADERA, Calif. -- The Madera County Board of Supervisors gave its official support to an Indian tribe's proposal to build a $250 million casino north of the city.
In a 4-1 vote Tuesday, the board reaffirmed its commitment to an agreement it signed with the North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians that allows the tribe to build a casino resort on land outside its reservation.
Other tribes such as the Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians, which operates its own casino, oppose the proposed casino because it is more than 40 miles away from the Mono Rancheria.
Madera residents crowded the meeting, and gave more than two hours of public testimony about the proposal.
District 2 Supervisor Vern Moss of Chowchilla cast the lone dissenting vote, saying 80 percent of people in his district opposed the project.
The tribe must still clear state and federal hurdles before it can break ground on the 305-acre plot located off Highway 99 near the Madera Municipal Airport.
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