1) I bet no</p>
2) I didn't know he had a State connection
From a Sid Salter article in today's CL.........
The political warfare between the gaming industry and religious groups over the controversial 2005 decision of the Mississippi Legislature to allow Gulf Coast casinos to rebuild 800 feet onshore after Hurricane Katrina was supposed to have been over.</p> <div class="articleflex-container"> <div class="articleflex">
<a href="http://gannett.gcion.com/adlink/511...ei/direct/01/403097582/?source=BKV2100000022" target="_blank"><img src="http://view.atdmt.com/HEI/view/cnocchb80070000003hei/direct/01/403097582/"/></a><noscript><a href="http://gannett.gcion.com/adlink/511...ei/direct/01/403097582/?source=BKV2100000022" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://view.atdmt.com/HEI/view/cnocchb80070000003hei/direct/01/403097582/" /></a></noscript> </div> </div>
But getting the law on the books and taking it out for a thorough test drive are two different things and the Mississippi Gaming Commission now faces the first significant test of the 2005 change in the law. While religious groups may well play a part, the primary battle here will be between the developers and the people of Biloxi over a strip of public beach that the development could threaten.</p> <p style="font-weight: bold;">RW Development, led by the NBA New Orleans Hornets owner Ray Wooldridge, is the developer.</p> <p style="font-weight: bold;">Wooldridge has also been a former partner in ownership of the WNBA Charlotte Sting and the ECHL's Charlotte Checkers.</p> <p style="font-weight: bold;">The Memphis native and Mississippi State University accounting graduate made his fortune in Space Master International, a manufacturer of modular building products.</p>
Through RW Development, Wooldridge has developed the South Beach Biloxi 326-unit condominium and has ancillary developments in the works as well. But the main attraction of the Wooldridge mixed-use development is the proposed Gold Coast casino that he wants to build on Veterans Avenue north of U.S. 90 in Biloxi. The Mississippi Gaming Commission has scheduled a July 17 meeting at the Biloxi Community Center to hear public concerns about the legality of the casino project.</p>
The proposed Gold Coast casino hinges on winning approval for the developer's plans to define the high mean tide water line is located to begin the 800-foot measurement to build the new casino onshore. The RW Development case is the first real test of the 800-foot legislation that allowed onshore casinos after Hurricane Katrina following a contentious 2004 special legislative session.</p>
Compounding the decision is the existence of a strip of public beach between the RW property south of U.S. 90 and the shoreline.</p>
Because that land is at the mean high tide, RW Development believes the property north of U.S. 90 is within a legal casino zone under the 2005 amendment to the law.</p>
The decision is not an easy one for the Gaming Commission and it's not without ramifications for Biloxi. RW Development told the media in March that the full completed development project - condos, a hotel, shops and the casino - would generate more than $24 million annually in taxes for Biloxi and its schools.</p>
Clearly, the state's anti-gaming forces will watch this commission decision closely. While the high mean tide definition is a technical one, the primary obstacle facing RW Development are political in nature.</p>
What about the strip of public beach? How strictly will the commission interpret the requirement that a legal casino site must have control of the water?</p>
The Biloxi Planning Commission approved the RW Development project back in March and recommended city approval of zoning variances necessary for the project.</p>
In April, the Biloxi City Council formally approved those zoning change recommendations with the support of Biloxi Mayor A.J. Holloway, who said: "Since there is already development on the south side of the Biloxi Strip, near where Gold Coast is proposing to be located, I do not believe this project would create pressure to open the entire beachfront to casino gaming."</p>
With that, about all that stands between RW Development and the green light for the Gold Coast casino is a Gaming Commission determination that the proposed site north of U.S. 90 is a legal and suitable gaming location.</p>
But as in most gaming activities, there's no such thing as a sure thing.</p>
2) I didn't know he had a State connection
From a Sid Salter article in today's CL.........
The political warfare between the gaming industry and religious groups over the controversial 2005 decision of the Mississippi Legislature to allow Gulf Coast casinos to rebuild 800 feet onshore after Hurricane Katrina was supposed to have been over.</p> <div class="articleflex-container"> <div class="articleflex">
<a href="http://gannett.gcion.com/adlink/511...ei/direct/01/403097582/?source=BKV2100000022" target="_blank"><img src="http://view.atdmt.com/HEI/view/cnocchb80070000003hei/direct/01/403097582/"/></a><noscript><a href="http://gannett.gcion.com/adlink/511...ei/direct/01/403097582/?source=BKV2100000022" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://view.atdmt.com/HEI/view/cnocchb80070000003hei/direct/01/403097582/" /></a></noscript> </div> </div>
But getting the law on the books and taking it out for a thorough test drive are two different things and the Mississippi Gaming Commission now faces the first significant test of the 2005 change in the law. While religious groups may well play a part, the primary battle here will be between the developers and the people of Biloxi over a strip of public beach that the development could threaten.</p> <p style="font-weight: bold;">RW Development, led by the NBA New Orleans Hornets owner Ray Wooldridge, is the developer.</p> <p style="font-weight: bold;">Wooldridge has also been a former partner in ownership of the WNBA Charlotte Sting and the ECHL's Charlotte Checkers.</p> <p style="font-weight: bold;">The Memphis native and Mississippi State University accounting graduate made his fortune in Space Master International, a manufacturer of modular building products.</p>
Through RW Development, Wooldridge has developed the South Beach Biloxi 326-unit condominium and has ancillary developments in the works as well. But the main attraction of the Wooldridge mixed-use development is the proposed Gold Coast casino that he wants to build on Veterans Avenue north of U.S. 90 in Biloxi. The Mississippi Gaming Commission has scheduled a July 17 meeting at the Biloxi Community Center to hear public concerns about the legality of the casino project.</p>
The proposed Gold Coast casino hinges on winning approval for the developer's plans to define the high mean tide water line is located to begin the 800-foot measurement to build the new casino onshore. The RW Development case is the first real test of the 800-foot legislation that allowed onshore casinos after Hurricane Katrina following a contentious 2004 special legislative session.</p>
Compounding the decision is the existence of a strip of public beach between the RW property south of U.S. 90 and the shoreline.</p>
Because that land is at the mean high tide, RW Development believes the property north of U.S. 90 is within a legal casino zone under the 2005 amendment to the law.</p>
The decision is not an easy one for the Gaming Commission and it's not without ramifications for Biloxi. RW Development told the media in March that the full completed development project - condos, a hotel, shops and the casino - would generate more than $24 million annually in taxes for Biloxi and its schools.</p>
Clearly, the state's anti-gaming forces will watch this commission decision closely. While the high mean tide definition is a technical one, the primary obstacle facing RW Development are political in nature.</p>
What about the strip of public beach? How strictly will the commission interpret the requirement that a legal casino site must have control of the water?</p>
The Biloxi Planning Commission approved the RW Development project back in March and recommended city approval of zoning variances necessary for the project.</p>
In April, the Biloxi City Council formally approved those zoning change recommendations with the support of Biloxi Mayor A.J. Holloway, who said: "Since there is already development on the south side of the Biloxi Strip, near where Gold Coast is proposing to be located, I do not believe this project would create pressure to open the entire beachfront to casino gaming."</p>
With that, about all that stands between RW Development and the green light for the Gold Coast casino is a Gaming Commission determination that the proposed site north of U.S. 90 is a legal and suitable gaming location.</p>
But as in most gaming activities, there's no such thing as a sure thing.</p>