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An Oklahoma Indian tribe hoping to bring casino gambling to Ohio has a deal with a Lawrence Township development company to buy nearly 50 acres along state Route 21 in Stark County.
The Eastern Shawnee announced the agreement -- and others in Logan, Shelby and Warren counties -- late Thursday in a legal filing in U.S. District Court in Toledo, where it filed a sweeping lawsuit last year claiming ownership rights to land in three western Ohio counties and hunting, fishing and gathering rights in 33 other counties. The tribe was native to Ohio before being forced to Oklahoma two centuries ago and is seeking to regain property in the Buckeye State.
The tribe is willing to drop claims against other property owners and communities if the new land agreements are approved -- a move that could eventually result in Indian casinos in the state. The Eastern Shawnee also are continuing to negotiate with the City of Lima on a settlement. Earlier this week, the tribe dropped Ohio from the suit.
``This action will allow us to return to Ohio and begin to re-establish a presence in our tribe's historic homeland,'' Chief Charles Enyart said.
The Eastern Shawnee have proposed building casino resorts with shopping, restaurants, hotels and concert venues at several locations in Ohio, including Stark County.
The tribe has targeted Stark because of its large population, proximity to Akron and Cleveland, and highway system (Interstate 77, U.S. 30 and and state Route 21) that could easily deliver gamblers.
The Stark resort could create about 3,000 jobs and attract about 2.2 million people a year, according to tribe estimates.
They'll explain it again
The Eastern Shawnee's efforts have been met with resistance in Stark, though, and a proposal before the Canal Fulton City Council to enter negotiations failed in May after protests by opponents. The City Council later received a petition signed by about 350 area residents asking the city to reconsider.
The land deal with N&N Development Group LLC means the tribe will be back before the council seeking an official revenue-sharing agreement, said Terry Casey, a Columbus lobbyist working with the Eastern Shawnee. The property is just outside the Canal Fulton limits at Arcadia Street Northwest and Route 21.
Casino supporters did a poor job earlier explaining the project to area residents and will outline the resort better this time, Casey said.
``We would like people in the community, like they are sitting on a jury, to wait until all the evidence is in and don't believe just the shouting, myths and old wives' tales by some of the negative moralists,'' he said.
N&N Development Group Managing Director Nathan Glick said he signed the agreement because he felt threatened that the Eastern Shawnee would find some legal way to take the land. He said he believes that N&N will be paid market value for the property. The agreement doesn't state a price.
A self-described conservative Republican, Glick said he's opposed to casinos. ``I'm not a supporter of all the freebies that the Indians are getting.
``I'm upset that I was drug into it.''
Other sites possible
The settlements released Thursday do not mention Lordstown, a Trumbull County community that already has signed an intergovernmental agreement with the tribe. The Eastern Shawnee still want to do a project in Lordstown, Casey said.
Even if the settlements are approved, the land doesn't immediately become a reservation or sovereign territory. The property would have to be placed into trust by the U.S. government. The tribe also would need further approvals by the federal and state governments to allow gambling on the property.
Indian gaming experts have said they doubt the Eastern Shawnee can overcome the political and regulatory hurdles necessary for casino gambling. It also would mark the first time in U.S. history that an out-of-state tribe opened a casino where it doesn't already have an reservation, experts have said.
Ohio is one of 20 states that do not have Indian gaming facilities.
U.S. Sen. George Voinovich said Friday that the Eastern Shawnee's proposal for casinos in Ohio has ``a snowball's chance in hell.''
State Attorney General Jim Petro also has said he will fight casino gambling in the state.
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