Source: Sacramento Business Journal

 Recent moves by the city of Galt are making Elk Grove look like a better spot for the proposed $500 million Wilton Rancheria Miwok casino project, said tribal chairman Raymond Hitchcock.

For two years a site at Mingo Road and Highway 99 in Galt has been the tribe's first choice for a proposed casino resort and hotel. Land near the still-unfinished outlet mall at Highway 99 and Kammerer Road in Elk Grove was a secondary alternative.

Tribal officials are concerned, however, that Galt is moving to annex the preferred site, Hitchcock said, adding that the move came after the tribe expressed interest. Annexing the land would give the city much more control over development and also could delay the project.

At a public hearing hosted by the Bureau of Indian Affairs Friday in Galt, an attorney for the city said the city also would like 30 additional days added to a comment period to review the casino proposal.

“It is difficult for a limited staff to review a complicated document,” said Alexandra Barnhill, a land use attorney representing the city with the Oakland law firm Burke, Williams & Sorensen LLP.