A prominent West Plains business owner is organizing opposition to a $130-million development proposed just west of Airway Heights by the Spokane Tribe of Indians.

Irv Zakheim, president and CEO of dinnerware designer and manufacturer Zak Designs Inc., says he and a handful of other business leaders don't want to see a second casino built on the West Plains. If the tribe's plans are approved, he contends, it will set a bad precedent.

"The risk we face by putting in a casino that isn't warranted is you open it up to others," says Zakheim, whose company employs about 140 people at its Airway Heights plant. "The downfall is you could have a bunch of casinos in Airway Heights."

Spokane Tribe spokeswoman Jamie Sijohn says the project's scope is more far-reaching than a casino, and includes a hotel, retail center, fire and police station, and a tribal cultural center.

"A lot of people focus on the casino," Sijohn says. "It's not just a casino. All of it will bring 1,200 permanent jobs, as well as construction jobs. How can you say no?"

The Spokane Tribe owns 145 acres of trust land at the northwest corner of U.S. 2 and Craig Road, just west of the city of Airways Heights. The Wellpinit, Wash.-based tribe first announced plans in early 2006 for a multiphase development, called the Spokane Tribal Economic Project. Since then, the tribe has been working with Spokane County and various state and federal agencies—mostly the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs—to obtain regulatory approval of the project. If the BIA approves the tribe's plans, the tribe will seek final approval from Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire. The tribe said late last year that it hopes to have all necessary approvals by mid-2011.

The Spokane County Board of County Commissioners voted in August 2010 that it wouldn't oppose the tribe's plans.

If approved, the tribe's casino would be the second on the West Plains. The Kalispel Tribe of Indians built the Northern Quest Casino in 1998 and since has expanded it, now referring to it as the Northern Quest Resort & Casino.

In opposition to the Spokane Tribe's plans, Zakheim says he organized a small meeting of businesspeople on Feb. 1 to find out whether others felt the same as he did about the proposed development. He invited 10 people, and six attended. He says the consensus of those in attendance was that the West Plains didn't need another casino. He plans to organize another meeting and invite more people to attend.

"We need to send a loud, strong voice from the business community that we don't think it's a good idea," Zakheim says. "This has nothing to do with the Spokane Tribe. It's just that one casino is enough."

Zakheim wasn't in support of the Northern Quest Casino when it was first developed, but he didn't vocally oppose it, he says. Since then, he says, the Kalispel Tribe has proven to be "a good neighbor" to Airway Heights, meaning that some of its employees are involved in the community and donate time and money to local organizations.

The Kalispel Tribe's reservation is located on about 4,600 acres of land along the Pend Oreille River, about 55 miles north of Spokane. Much of that reservation is on a floodplain, and because of that, the tribe was able to lobby successfully for an exception to the federal law prohibiting off-reservation gaming.

The Spokane Tribe has a 154,000-acre reservation with two operating casinos: the Two Rivers Casino, on the Spokane River about 45 miles northwest of Spokane along State Highway 25, and the Chewelah Casino, about 40 miles north of Spokane along U.S. 395.

Since Northern Quest opened, however, revenues at the Spokane Tribe's casinos have dropped precipitously, Sijohn says.

"When Northern Quest opened, it had a tragic effect on the Two Rivers Casino," which is located about 40 miles from Northern Quest, she says.

At one time, the tribe operated that casino 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In recent years, however, the tribe has reduced the casino's hours, closing it three days a week during the winter months.

The Spokane Tribe currently reports a 50-percent unemployment rate among its members, and the proposed development would provide employment opportunities for its members, as well as others. Sijohn says the tribe estimates that at least 400 construction jobs would be created after groundbreaking, and the multiuse development would employ an additional 1,200 people.

Zakheim says, however, he thinks multiple casinos likely would take jobs and opportunities from one another, rather than expanding the employment and revenue base in the region.

"In this case, I don't think two plus two equals four," he says. "I think two plus two equals two equals 2 1/2."

Sijohn says the Spokane Tribe has conducted studies that indicate the West Plains market "can handle another casino-hotel-resort operation."

The Spokane Tribe currently is working with the BIA on a draft environmental impact statement and responses to comments made by members of the public during a late 2009 public meeting. The tribe also is meeting with the Washington state Department of Transportation on short- and long-term traffic planning.

Last November, the Federal Aviation Administration ruled that the Spokane Tribe's proposed development doesn't exceed obstruction standards and wouldn't pose a hazard to air travel at either Fairchild Air Force Base, which is about a mile west of the proposed development site, or Spokane International Airport, which is about four miles southeast of the site.

Even so, Zakheim says he and other business leaders don't want to see anything near Fairchild that the U.S. Air Force might view as an encroachment. Fairchild employs nearly 5,000 people and is by far the largest employer in Spokane County.

Sijohn says the tribe has been open through this process and has met with a number of civic and business organizations to discuss its plans.

"We've been very transparent through this process, and we will continue to be transparent," she says.