Feds clear the way for Catawba Indians’ North Carolina casino. Here’s the latest.
CORRECTION: Earlier versions of this story mischaracterized N.C. Secretary of State Elaine Marshall’s role in the state’s casino revenue-sharing agreement with the Catawba Indian Nation. Marshal verified Gov. Roy Cooper’s signature. Her role is not to approve or deny such agreements.
A key federal agency has cleared the way for the Catawba Indian Nation to begin building the tribe’s long-planned North Carolina casino.
The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs approved the revenue-sharing agreement the Rock Hill-based tribe reached in January with N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper, tribal leaders said Thursday.
Darryl LaCounte, director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, notified Catawba Chief Bill Harris in a March 19 letter that his agency signed off on the agreement, according to the tribe.
The pact complies with the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act and other provisions of federal law, LaCounte wrote.
LaCounte sent a similar letter to Cooper, tribal leaders said.
The bureau began a 45-day review of the agreement after Cooper approved the agreement.
The federal approval officially takes effect when the notice of the approval is published in the Federal Register, according to the tribe.
What the approval means:
▪ The Catawba can start building their $273 million casino off Interstate 85 in Kings Mountain, about a 45-minute drive from uptown Charlotte.
The tribe will first construct a 60,000-square-foot temporary facility by September that will include at least 1,300 slot machines and a restaurant.
▪ Class III gaming, including slot machines and table games, can be offered.
▪ Thousands of jobs for North Carolinians, Harris said in a statement Thursday.
Any potential hiccup? A lawsuit by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians against the project remains active in the courts.
The Cherokee operate North Carolina’s only two legal casinos:
▪ Harrah’s Cherokee Casino, west of Asheville, near Maggie Valley about three hours west of Charlotte.
▪ And Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River Casino, further west, near Georgia and Tennessee, a four-hour drive west of Charlotte.
In a statement Thursday, the Cherokee said they are “disappointed but not surprised” by the Interior Department’s decision.
“This approval stems from the DOI’s original illegal act to take land into trust and force an unwanted casino on North Carolina,” Principal Chief Richard Sneed said. “We believe the facts are clear and that the court will invalidate this illegal casino and along with it, this compact.”
How to apply for a job: It’s too early, said Laney Buckley, Catawba Nation director of community services. “We will announce opportunities for jobs as soon as we get to that point in the project,” she said in an email to the Observer.
Didn’t the federal government already approve the casino? No, but a ruling last March paved the way. After a years-long review, the U.S. Department of the Interior took 17 acres into trust off Dixon School Road in Cleveland County for the Catawba Nation. That’s where the casino is planned.
How can a South Carolina tribe open a casino in North Carolina? The federal ruling last March recognized the Catawbas’ “historical and ancestral ties to its aboriginal lands throughout North Carolina,” Harris said. He cited such names as Catawba County and Catawba College.
This story was originally published March 25, 2021 at 1:07 PM.