The Las Vegas Sands Corp. on Friday submitted a planning and zoning application for a $750 million-plus casino resort in Kansas City, Kan.
The global gambling giant in mid-December had said it was walking away from the casino competition in Kansas after Wyandotte County’s Unified Government rejected the company’s original proposal for a 50-acre site near Interstate 435 and Leavenworth Road.
But state officials then clarified procedures and permitted Sands and other rejected applicants to re-enter the selection process.
Unified Government spokesman Mike Taylor said Sands’ application was set to be heard March 10 by a city zoning panel and March 27 by the full commission.
If approved by local authorities, however, Sands would have to reach proposed contract terms with the state by March 28.
“Short of an extension by the governor, it’s a very, very tight time frame,” Taylor said.
Sands vice president Andrew F. Abboud said: “Obviously we’re aware of the time frame. We’re committed to doing whatever is necessary to make sure we’re not in a crisis situation,” including contract talks with the state before city approval.
Sands’ first proposal stumbled over opposition from neighbors and others who complained that its 5,000 slots, 200 table games, 300-room hotel and an outdoor amphitheater were inappropriate for the semi-rural area.
Abboud said the new plan added about 100 acres of land to create traffic roundabouts, green space and traffic flow patterns aimed at lessening congestion on nearby roads.
“We took the last few weeks listening to the concerns of neighbors and the Unified Government,” Abboud said. “We went over it item by item and significantly revised that proposal. We’re confident this is something they will be happy and comfortable with.”
Abboud said the casino, amenities and scope of the earlier and current plans, as well as a similar casino plan filed Jan. 18 for a site in Edwardsville, are all basically the same.
Under the Kansas Expanded Lottery Act approved last year, the state would hire private firms to manage state-owned casinos in Wyandotte, Sumner, Ford and Cherokee counties.
Taylor said details of Sands’ proposal would be posted Monday at www.wycokck.org |
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