In a divided vote Tuesday night, the Richmond City Council approved the final environmental impact report for a proposed $1 billion casino resort at Point Molate, a former naval fuel base on the city's shoreline.
Mayor Gayle McLaughlin was the only member of the council to
Council members Jovanka Beckles, Courtland "Corky" Booze and Jim Rogers voted to approve the EIR.
Councilman Nathaniel Bates was out of town, Butt said.
Certification of the EIR is not approval of the casino project, however. The certification means only that the council has reviewed the document and found it to be accurate and complete, Butt said.
The council is scheduled to vote on the proposed casino project itself April 5.
The project, which is being proposed by the Guidiville Indian tribe and their developer, Upstream Point Molate LLC, would include a 4,000-slot-machine casino, 1,100 hotel rooms, a convention center, a performing arts center, entertainment venues, retail space, a tribal government center and tribal housing. It would also create about 1,200 jobs.
Three-fourths of the 412-acre site would be preserved as open space and the tribe has agreed to restore and protect habitat and provide access for the Bay Trail.
The tribe has also agreed to give the city $50 million up front if the project is approved and $20 million a year after that, Butt said.
The tribe would also contribute millions to environmental groups and open space projects.
Butt said Wednesday that he doesn't believe any of the council members actually thought the EIR was complete. He said he believes they were pressured by the city's lawyers and Upstream to approve the EIR in an effort to avoid a potential $30 million lawsuit.
He said he found deficiencies in the report's mitigations for traffic impacts and did not feel that it adequately addressed how the project would impact historic and biological resources on the site.
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