CATAWBA INDIAN RESERVATION A political and legal battle is brewing in York County between those who support the Catawba Indian Nation's plan to open a casino on its York County reservation and politicians who are advocates of economic development but oppose the casino plan.

The problem is, plainly, gambling.

This fight is over money and whether the Catawbas have a right to make it the way other Indian tribes do - huge casinos that attract thousands of visitors who spend not just millions, but billions.

A casino would employ thousands and fill state coffers with taxes, tribal leaders maintain, but several politicians say a casino is not an acceptable way to boost the economy.

York County Council Chairman Britt Blackwell, a Republican who wears the label of pro-business, said Thursday a casino is "not the kind of economic development we are envisioning."

Although the County Council has not met to discuss the casino, Blackwell as chairman said he is confident the group will stand with law enforcement and state politicians who oppose the casino.

"We'd be all for it if it were some other kind of business," Blackwell said. "Personally, I don't want to see a gambling house in York County."

In a lawsuit filed this week, the Catawbas argue the state changed the rules when it allowed casino-boat gambling near Charleston. Advocates say the Catawbas have the legal and economic right to open the casino and reap the economic benefits.

In the lawsuit, the tribe claims a 2005 state law that allows cruise ship gambling off the coast of Charleston means the tribe should be allowed to have gaming, which the Catawbas were granted in a 1993 land-claim settlement with the state and federal governments.

That settlement guaranteed the Catawbas two gaming halls, including one in York County. But courts have ruled that they lost the right to operate video poker when the state outlawed it in 2000.

In 2006, the tribe closed a bingo hall it operated on Cherry Road in Rock Hill, blaming a new state-run lottery for taking away business.

State Sen. Wes Hayes, R-Rock Hill, pledged to "do anything in his power" to stop a casino.

A casino is just not acceptable in York County, said state Rep. Gary Simrill, R-Rock Hill. He vowed to push for a resolution from a majority of the county's overwhelmingly Republican legislative delegation to oppose the casino and support the state's fight against it.

In the lawsuit, the Catawbas have asked a judge to bar police from confiscating any video machines or arresting any tribal members for possessing machines as the suit moves forward, but no date has been set for a hearing on that injunction.

A spokesman for the state Attorney General's office said Thursday the tribe's claim does not follow current law.

The tribe's lawyer, Wally Fayssoux of Greenville, said the tribe has the legal right to build the casino and the 1993 settlement guarantees that on the reservation, any gaming available anywhere in the state legally can be used on the reservation.