| GamblingPhD menu | Plans for new Reno casino causing uproar December 18 In Reno, a heated disagreement is erupting lately over plans for a new casino in the southern part of the city. An executive for Atlantis Casino Resort & Spa is testing a developer's idea to construct the casino across the street from the Reno-Sparks Convention Center because plans do not call for a hotel. Roger Elton, who is planning the new casino, has designs to construct the casino using a grandfather clause in the license from the former Reno Turf Club that permits him to it without having to build a hotel on the property. Elton feels that Reno already has too many hotel rooms. The chief executive and co-chairman of Monarch Casino & Resort, which owns the Atlantis, feels that not adding a hotel for the new casino would mean that the would-be casino's business would be just regenerated local money and not from outside tourism. The actual location for the proposed casino is just under 8 acres and it is bordered by retail and commercial development. Back in 2003, The Turf Club was destroyed to clear space for the downtown railroad trench project. Its gambling license used to belong to the Sierra Development Company.
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