Carson City Supervisors approve gaming license transfer, marijuana moratorium

Carson City's Board of Supervisors voted 2-1 Thursday to approve the transfer of the former Horseshoe Club's gaming license from Nevada Treasure Chest to Silver Bullet of Nevada, LLC, which owns Bodine’s Casino.

Owners of Bodine's Casino seek to use the Horseshoe Club's existing gaming license to open a new casino and restaurant in North Carson City within the North Town Plaza Shopping Center.

The Carson City Horseshoe Club closed its doors in January 2015 and did not reopen.

At issue Thursday was the condition of the Horseshoe Club's gaming license, which was reported at the Board of Supervisors meeting to have expired at the end of December 2014.

However, the casino continued its gaming activities for an additional 19 days into January 2015 without an active license, city officials testified at Thursday's meeting.

The question was raised as to whether or not the gaming license was in good standing to be transferred because the license holder continued operating in violation of local and state gaming laws.

During discussions, facts presented had showed the city had failed to enforce the law through fines or license revocation. Other findings revealed the city has consistently not revoked gaming licenses when operators have allowed licensing status to lapse. Licensees instead have been allowed to pay the amount owed for the period they were unlicensed in order to reinstate current gaming status.

Because of this precedence, the Board ultimately decided to approve the gaming license transfer with the condition that the outstanding costs of the lapsed gaming license over the last seven fiscal quarter be paid in full before Dec. 31 of this year.

Both Mayor Bob Crowell and Supervisor Brad Bonkowski abstained from voting on the gaming license transfer matter due to potential conflicts of interest.

In other city matters, the Board unanimously approved placing a moratorium on additional marijuana establishments until the state of Nevada has developed its regulations pertaining to the Tax Marijuana Act, passed by Nevada voters on Nov. 8 to legalize the recreational use of marijuana.

According to the new law, the state has 12 months to form its regulatory infrastructure, including the establishment of policy that impacts communities statewide.

The Carson City Board of Supervisors voted Thursday to hold off on approving any new applications for marijuana facilities until the state has a complete picture of what statewide regulation will look like. This includes zoning and business license regulations that will directly affect local planning.

The state has until Dec. 31, 2017 to finalize regulations, per the Tax of Marijuana Act.

A moratorium, according to the proposal before the Board Thursday, would allow the city time to evaluate the implications of the regulations adopted by the state regulatory agency and consider other impacts related to the regulation of marijuana establishments.

The proposed moratorium does not apply to existing medical marijuana establishments possessing valid provisional certificates and that wish to operate under the current medical marijuana establishment regulations in Carson City as of the date the moratorium is enacted.

This includes the ability to file applications for the expansion or relocation of existing medical marijuana facilities.

One of the first items voted on Thursday morning by the Board was the purchase of four additional patrol vehicles for the Carson City Sheriff's Office from local automobile dealerships.

Supervisors voted unanimously to approve the purchase request.

As of 4:30 p.m., the Board of Supervisors was still considering a proposal to amend the Master Plan Land Use Designation (MPLUD) for the Andersen Family Ranch property, located between Mountain Street and Ormsby Boulevard, to be developed as Vintage at Kings Canyon over-55 Tentative Planned Use Development (TPUD).

Results of the board's vote on this matter will be published separately.

The Carson City Board of Supervisors meets twice a month, on the first and third Thursday, at 8:30 a.m. in the Sierra Room inside the Carson City Community Center, 850 E. William Street.

Meetings are open to the public, and public input is encouraged at the meetings.