The international gaming conglomerate just a few weeks ago walked away from the casino competition in Kansas hours after a 6-5 vote by the Unified Government Commission had turned down a motion to overturn the Planning Commission proposal that would have refused the required rezoning for proposed Sands site near the northwest interchange of Interstate 435 and Leavenworth Road.

Experts said the policy differences were primarily concerning traffic congestion issues, and had nothing to do with gambling issues, per se.

This week, making a quick comeback from the set back, the Sands filed plans with the Kansas Lottery Commission expanding and re-configuring the site along with a second proposal for a site in Edwardsville south of Interstate 70 near 110th Street, said Hal Walker, an attorney for the government. “The Sands is determined that they really want to be in this market,” said Walker.

Resort Destination

Sands is "committed to building a premier multi-use resort destination in Kansas, and we will exhaust any options that would give us an opportunity to reach that goal," company President William Wiedner said. 
Walker said the state has changed its cumbersome application procedures to enable casino developers to submit proposals without a formal endorsement from the local government, or with approved planning and zoning approvals.

Walker suggests the state has now determined "your planning and zoning endorsement only had to occur prior to the Lottery Commission signing a contract.”

State government authorities currently are mulling an extension of the application deadline for Las Vegas-based Epic Gaming in Ford County, and said they would negotiate proposed contract terms with two gaming consortiums that failed last month to win endorsements from the Sumner County Commission.

Hours before the deadline, the Kansas Lottery Commission received proposals from bidders for a casino in Wyandotte County. A total of six proposals have been submitted for the casino.

One proposal submitted Monday, a $770 million plan by Kansas City-based Red Development LLC, and Connecticut-based Mohegan Sun and Las Vegas-based Olympia Gaming LLC had been endorsed by the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas, though the Sands proposals, as mentioned above, were not.

A spokeswoman for the Kansas Lottery Commission, Sally Lunsford, said they had just received the proposals and didn't have further details about any changes to the plans.
The Sands proposals are valid as long as they receive the necessary approvals and local endorsement in time to complete a contract, she added.

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