Last chance for casino
By wavelandwatchers
Diamondhead
The Hancock County Planning and Zoning Commission has told the Diamondhead Casino Corporation it must produce a master plan for its casino project by the end of next year or it will lose its zoning approval for a special use district.
Earlier this month, the commission extended the special zoning for 12 more months. It was first approved 10 years ago.
“The commission is tired of giving extensions,” Hancock County Building Official Anthony Cuevas said Monday. “They want to see it moving or they are going to drop it.”
The Diamondhead Casino Corporation owns about 400 acres of land stretching from South Diamondhead east towards the county line.
The company was formed in 1998 and over the past ten years, there have been several joint-ventures with casino groups proposed for the property, but no casino has been built.
Since Katrina, the company has issued several press releases about possible partners for the project, including real estate mogul Donald Trump and Casinos Austria, an international casino company.
“They have done a lot of talking, but nothing has ever happened,” Board of Supervisors attorney Ronnie Artigues said Monday. “It is not uncommon for the county to take back a zoning rule if nothing ever happens.”
One of the reasons why the county wants an updated plan is because there have been numerous changes to the area since the zoning was granted in 1999, officials said.
Earlier this year, Jacobs Entertainment, a different casino group looking to develop a casino near the Diamondhead Casino Corp. site, was denied a zoning change by the Board of Supervisors after the change initially was approved by the planning and zoning commission.
One of the main reasons why that zoning change was denied was because of traffic concerns with the I-10 Exit 16 interchange.
Supervisors said any casino group wishing to develop a casino in the area would have to produce an adequate traffic study and a remedy for the traffic problem.
During the Jacobs hearings, many south Diamondhead residents voiced vehement objections to a casino being built in their area.
Diamondhead is also in the middle of an incorporation proceeding.
MIckey Lagasse of Compton Engineering–who represented Diamondhead Casino Corporation at the planning commission earlier this month–said Monday that the current situation is completely different from the Jacobs hearing.
“What Jacobs was asking for has already been approved for Diamondhead Casino Corporation,” Lagasse said. “A public hearing is not necessary for a master plan.”
Lagasse said Diamondhead Casino Corporation is planning on turning in a master plan before the end of next year.
“With the slight up-turn in the economy, they have had more people come to the table,” he said.
If the county does decide to strip Diamondhead Casino Corporation of its zoning it could potentially have a negative tax effect on the county.
County tax records show that the company pays more than $44,000 per year in property tax. If the special use district tag were removed and the land reverted back to agricultural use, it would only generate $728 in taxes per year, Tax Assessor/Collector Jimmy Ladner said Monday.
Diamondhead Casino Corporation’s President Deborah Vitale did not return phone calls by press time Tuesday.
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