Despite Dooley’s opposition, North County casino developers to plow ahead
Charlie Dooley may not like the idea of a casino in north St. Louis County, but that’s not stopping the people who want to build one.
The day after the St. Louis County executive made public his opposition to the proposal to build a $350 million casino just south of the Columbia Bottoms Preservation Area, the developers’ attorney said his group plans to plow ahead regardless.
The site, in Spanish Lake along the Mississippi, is a good spot for Missouri’s 13th casino, said Ed Griesedieck, lawyer and spokesman for North County Development LLC. And it’s in a part of the region that sorely needs the jobs a casino would bring.
"Mr. Dooley spells out that he has a vague notion that people don’t want this," Griesedieck said Wednesday. "I think that comment is not in touch with the tens of thousands of out-of-work workers in that area."
Local environmentalists have argued that the project would harm fragile wetlands by the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi, and on Tuesday, Dooley said he agreed. But Griesedieck notes that the project was previously zoned for industrial use and is not in a conservation area, just near one.
"There needs to be a distinction there," he said.
The project has strong support from labor unions and some elected officials. But it also has met with vocal opposition from various corners.
Dooley presented his stance in a letter to the Missouri Gaming Commission, which will ultimately decide where to put the casino. A "no" vote from the county executive would likely weigh heavily in their thinking.
Griesedieck said his group — which includes Madison County attorney Brad Lakin and Argo Products owner Kenneth Goldstein, among others — will try to prevail on Dooley to change his mind.
"We hope he reconsiders," he said.