One South Mississippi casino gets site approval, while secretary of state holds up another
One of two proposed east Biloxi casinos got site approval Thursday from the Mississippi Gaming Commission.
The Tullis Garden Hotel and Casino site on U.S. 90 in Bilox was approved during the meeting in Jackson — contingent upon legal issues being resolved, said Jay McDaniel, executive director of the Gaming Commission.
The commissioners ruled the site is legal under the agency’s and state’s regulations and statues, based on the lease presented, McDaniel said
“The commission recognizes that there’s litigation over that site involving the Secretary of state’s office,” he said, most notably whether any tidelands leases are required.
The 35-acre Tullis casino site is on U.S. 90, just west of Harrah’s Gulf Coast, and is proposed to have a 300 room hotel, 53,280 square foot casino floor, 909 slot machines, 35 table games, sports book and other amenities like restaurants.
Legal action delays Tivoli approval
Biloxi Capital application for the Tivoli casino was deferred Thursday for additional consideration. Secretary of State Michael Watson filed a lawsuit two days before, on Tuesday, Dec. 17, in Harrison County Chancery Court claiming a tidelands lease is required for the casino to be a legal site.
The resort on the 32 acre site near the Biloxi Yacht Club is proposed to have a 1,300 room hotel, 100,000 square foot casino space, 2,000 slot machines, 75 table games, a sports book, convention space and other amenities. Tivoli is “I love it” spelled backwards.
“It’s not just a site,” Biloxi Mayor Andrew “FoFo” Gilich said at the meeting, but fit in with what Biloxi can see on the peninsula in five or 10 years, he said.
The site is located between thousands of hotel rooms and has been a tourism attraction since the 1920s. Gilich said he, the city council and “the vast majority of the citizens of Biloxi” are in favor of the casino resort.
On Aug. 6, the Biloxi Council agreed to lease the casino developers property in connection with a pier.
“Any party wishing to lease, develop and/or build upon Public Trust Tidelands, such as Biloxi Capital, is required to obtain a lease from the State of Mississippi through the secretary of state,” Watson said in his Verified Complaint filing.
The secretary of state has leased property to governments rent exempt,he said, but only for public purposes
Watson took similar legal action in October on the Tullis casino, which prompted the Gaming Commission to delay that approval for two months.
Biloxi casino operators object
Kathryn Hester, an attorney with Jones Walker, presented the gaming commissioners with letters from Biloxi casino operators objecting to the site approvals without a tidelands lease.
She said the commission interpreted the regulations to require all casino licensees to own and control all of the property between the casino floor and the water.
“For one applicant, it cost the licensee $25 million to purchase land,” she said, “and three fourths of a million dollars annually to lease land to control all the front property between the gaming floor and the water’s edge.”
Last year an applicant was able to pay $1,000 a month to connect its casino to the water’s edge, she said, and there was no problem that the company owned or controlled all of the land between the water’s edge.
McDaniel said he takes exception to this idea that there’s some change in the rules.
Next steps
The Gaming Commission’s January meeting moves to Biloxi, and it’s possible the commissioners could rule then on the Biloxi Capital site approval.
Having site approval is just the first step in the Gaming Commission process. About six others have site approval in Biloxi but weren’t built.
Before developers can get permission to proceed with construction, they must provide extensive documentation showing they meet all the requirements and have the financing to complete construction.
The Sun Herald will update this article.
This story was originally published December 19, 2024 at 11:29 AM.
