On October 17, 2019, the Russellville City Council passed Resolution 1777; a resolution declaring the city’s intent to annex certain unincorporated lands in the county. The only real discussion came from City Attorney, William F. Smith III, who advised them that if they passed the resolution they have to proceed with the annexation within five years. If the city doesn’t, the city will be prohibited from exercising its current planning jurisdiction for the next five years after that and possibly its zoning jurisdiction if that is extended into the lands covered by this resolution. Mayor Richard Harris asked Smith if taking the annexation to a vote that subsequently failed would count as “proceeding.” Smith answered that it would.
The resolution includes a map identifying the specific areas proposed for annexation. The areas include all of the known properties outside the city limits that had purchase options by the casino vendors.
The casino part of the Legend Resort & Casino facility will be built on property that is now outside of the city limits. Otherwise, a letter of support would have had to have been obtained from Mayor Harris.
At some point, Cherokee Nation Businesses will petition the Russellville city council to annex the property under A.C.A. § 14–40–609 (Act 567 of 2017). “Annexation by one hundred percent (100%) petition.” Since CNB will be the owner of 100% of the property, they can petition the city for annexation of their property without going through any annexation vote.
With the casino property annexed into the city, Russellville will receive 19.5% of the net casino gaming receipts tax and the county will receive 8%. They will also receive revenue from all of the taxes and fees that any other for-profit business would be subject to.
Some people will resent and/or oppose the idea that Russellville will “benefit” like this from the annexation of the casino. After all, haven’t they opposed the casino all along the way?
That thought is understandable. However, it’s not totally accurate. It’s true that some of the people living in Russellville have opposed the casino, but that’s also true of people living in the county. Many of the previous Russellville politicians have actively opposed the casino, but they are not Russellville and Russellville should not be penalized for the actions—or lack of action—of its politicians.
Most of the impact of the casino—emergency response (such as fire department, ambulance services, law enforcement), infrastructure, traffic, etc.—will be upon the city of Russellville and the immediate area. Eventually, most of that immediate area will also be annexed, in all likelihood.
Like it or not, Legends Resort & Casino | Arkansas will be inside the city of Russellville.
More importantly…
Legends Resort & Casino | Arkansas
will be built
and
it will be built here.