Reno City Council okays Station Casinos gaming project

The council voted 5-2 to reject an appeal by Atlantis parent company Monarch Casino and Resort, which opposed having the proposed 84,000-square-foot Station project in its backyard. The Monarch appeal contested the city planning commission's initial approval of the Station project. The dissenting votes were made by councilmembers Naomi Duerr and Jenny Brekhus, who raised concerns that Station's entry into the area gives it an unfair competitive advantage over the Atlantis Casino Resort Spa.

Hotel rooms, or the lack thereof, were at the crux of the debate about Station's application as well as the discussion among city council members. Monarch says it goes against the city’s master plan, which typically requires hotel rooms for new gaming developments, especially given the project’s proximity to the convention center. By building a gaming facility without lodging amenities, Station’s new project will also cannibalize guests from surrounding establishments instead of growing the market, said John Farahi, CEO of Atlantis parent company Monarch Casino and Resort.

“It’s just a bunch of slot machine tables,” Farahi said in a previous phone interview the Reno Gazette-Journal. “It doesn’t make the pie larger by bringing in more tourists to the community.”