MOU declared invalid

The proposed Cowlitz casino project was dealt another blow Tuesday when the tribe's agreement with Clark County was declared invalid.

The Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board determined that the county did not allow for sufficient public participation -- as required by state and county law -- before it approved the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the tribe in March 2004.

The Board of County Commissioners signed the MOU before the tribe revealed its plan to apply for an initial reservation and develop a mega-casino and resort near the La Center exit on Interstate 5. The tribe has since used the MOU to bolster its application to put lands into trust and has relied on it as a critical part of its Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

The 2006 Draft EIS mentions the MOU more than 150 times in an attempt to demonstrate that the agreement would prevent or mitigate negative impacts. However, because the county signed before knowing the tribe's plan for the site, it failed to get a deal that would reasonably help offset the negative impacts of what could become the largest casino-resort on the West Coast.

The MOU was appealed in June 2004 by a property owner adjacent to the proposed casino site and owners of the La Center cardrooms. The case traveled through Superior Court to Appeals Court, which declared the MOU a "de facto amendment" to the county's Comprehensive Plan and sent it back to the Hearings Board, which has given the county until Dec. 14 to bring the MOU into compliance.

CARS continues to believe there should be no agreement between the tribe and the county. This Memorandum of Mis-Understanding should be invalidated for all time.

>>Read the story in The Columbian.

For more stories and information, see our Web site.