The Chumash Casino Resort in the Santa Ynez Valley was upgraded this week to a 21-and-older gaming facility, meaning anyone under 21 can’t go on the gaming floor where alcohol will be sold and consumed.
Previously, visitors to the 18-and-older facility could only buy and drink alcoholic beverages at the resort restaurant, The Willows, in the buffet, the hotel or in the Samala Showroom during special events with meals and banquet seating.
The Santa Ynez Valley Band of Chumash Indians, which owns the resort and casino on the tribe’s federally recognized reservation at 3400 E. Highway 246 in Santa Ynez, made the announcement Thursday after the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control granted the tribe an interim operating permit.
“The goal of our current casino and hotel expansion project is to provide the highest level of entertainment that can be offered on the Central Coast,” Tribal Chairman Vincent Armenta said in a statement.
“Alcohol will be available to be sold and consumed in areas of the gaming floor that we will determine and enforce. We have proven that our resort can operate in a responsible way when serving alcohol, and we will continue to do so under these new guidelines.”
ABC permit approval came with 14 stipulations, including prohibiting all guests under the age of 21 from being in any room where gambling is occurring, not hosting happy hours, and not selling any alcoholic beverages between 1 and 9 a.m.
Since the permit is an interim one, Third District Supervisor Doreen Farr told Noozhawk she and Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown will continue protesting the change of license.
Brown and Farr, who represents the Santa Ynez Valley, already sent written letters of protest to ABC, and plan to testify in front of an administrative judge about the issue before any permanent license might be granted in coming months.
“In the meantime, I will ask the sheriff to keep me updated as to any law enforcement issues that arise to do with the consumption of alcohol on the gaming floor,” Farr said.
The casino’s gaming floor is open 24/7 and includes 2,000 slot machines, dozens of table games, bingo, poker and daily cash and prize giveaways.
Although the expansion construction that began earlier this year includes widening the gaming floor by 60,000 square feet, the Chumash cannot add any more machines because the casino already has the maximum number allowed by the state.
The tribe is adding 215 hotel rooms, 584 parking spaces and other improvements to ease overcrowding at the 190,000-square-foot complex.
The existing hotel has 106 guest rooms and 17 luxury suites.
Save the Valley and other reservation neighbors — along with the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors — have shared concerns about the project’s impact to air quality, aesthetics, water supply and more.
Because the tribe doesn’t fall under the county planning processes, tribal leaders were able to self-certify the project’s environmental evaluation last year, refuting concerns and allowing some concessions — like buying a taller ladder truck so fire crews can get to a new 12-story tower and funding more fire and policing services.
The expansion is slated for completion in May 2016, according to the tribe.
— Noozhawk staff writer Gina Potthoff can be reached at gpotthoff@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.