Table Mountain Rancheria Tribe considers relocating

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- One of the region's oldest casino could be moving. The Table Mountain Rancheria Tribe is planning to build a new casino and hotel right next to their current location.

"Our current facility was built in 1987. It was a no pre-fab butler building that was added on to it. Low ceilings, poor circulation, so we needed something more state of the art that will be more energy efficient," said Dan Casas.

The environmental evaluation says it will double the gaming floor and include a 151 room hotel.

It will also include a state of the art ventilation system. Tribe members say they have been planning this move for years.

"It's more that we're making sure we have a facility that can sustain future generations of our tribal community," said Casas.

However, a new location comes with a price. The report says on a busy day, nearby roads could see more than 7,000 cars a day and some are worried it's going to cause more traffic issues.

"From the county's perspective, we want to make sure Table Mountain and the county work closely together so increased traffic, those types of issues are mitigated. We want to see some improvements of course to Millerton road at the end of the day I think it's a good thing. It's going to create new jobs. Spur economic development," said Fifth District Fresno County Supervisor Nathan Magsig.

"Our ultimate goal is to put a four-lane from the Shell Station all the way to the facility, to include bike lanes to address everybody's concern about traffic," said Casas.

The evaluation is now public, and open to comment from the community.

If all goes according to plan, construction could start next year and be finished by 2021.