Aaron Paff Paff 1

Owens
English 12 GCP
5 December 2013
Kastania Casino
Almost every citizen in the United States is familiar with Las Vegas, with its glamorous
hotels, casinos, shows, and resorts. Casino gambling is usually an activity saved for the
occasional trip to Lake Tahoe or Reno, and of course, Las Vegas. However the lights and the
noise and the ching of coins are closer than Nevada. The Graton Casino, dubbed the finest casino
in California, just opened down the street in Rohnert Park. Now Petaluma city council members
are pushing for a casino to be built right outside Petaluma across from Kastania Road on the
Petaluma River. Now, the Petaluma River already has pollution problems, thus the construction
of a casino on the river will not only increase pollution levels, it will also increase the already
bad traffic on Highway 101. The casino will destroy precious wetland habitats and the project
site is directly across from Schollenberger Park, creating an absolutely atrocious eye sore and
harming the wildlife refuge that the park houses.
The future site of the proposed casino lies on a 277 acre (1) flat that stretches to the banks
of the Petaluma River. The Petaluma River, which already has pollution troubles, the water
quality effecting the fish population due to a rise in sediment, nutrient and pathogen levels (2),
would take no benefit from having a casino built on its banks. The excess litter from the patrons
will likely blow into the river, not to mention and increase in carbon dioxide from the cars. An
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increase in carbon dioxide, also known as smog, effects humans as well as the environment, the
photochemicals effecting animals similar to the way humans are affected. The toxic gases cause
respiratory troubles, headache, as well as eye irritation (3). These greenhouse gases have already
been a problem for earths ozone layer and the town of Petaluma doesnt need to increase the
problem with a casino.
Of course with more smog, comes more cars, and with more cars comes more traffic. A
perfect example of this pattern is the opening day of Graton casino in Rohnert Park. The opening
day traffic was some of the worst possible, with solid bumper-to-bumper traffic twenty four
miles south of the casino; all accompanied by a jam of back roads and city streets (4). The
notoriously busy section of highway that would run past the casino, across from Kastania Roads
already a nightmare for early morning and late evening commuters and a casino would only
enhance the problem. More traffic leads to impatient drivers which leads to road rage which
leads to more car crashes. These will not only be an issue when the casino first opens, but during
the construction too, since car accidents are more likely to occur in hazardous conditions.
The project site for the casino is along the stretch of Highway 101 that is already
currently under construction. The current project is expanding the highway from two lanes to
three. It will be a sigh of relief when the construction is finished because it will alleviate the
heavy congestion. Now why would the city of Petaluma want to build a traffic causing casino
right when the highway gets expanded? That will only bring the problem back to where it was
before the highway expansion project. The casino will do nothing but create trouble for the town.

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Schollenberger Park, a wildlife refuge located on the east bank of the Petaluma River, is
one of the major safe havens for a variety of wildlife. The park not only houses wildlife, but is a
common place to go jogging or dog walking and even take a school field trip. It would be an
unwise decision to put a casino right across the river from the park. It would be a complete
eyesore and possibly have a negative effect on the wildlife. The casino will cover up the entire
277 acre property which will completely obliterate the wetland ecosystem that is currently there.
So not only will that precious habitat be lost, but the noise and the pollution may drive out the
wildlife at Schollenberger Park. The park, one of the last wetland habitats of its type in the
country, houses over 225 species of birds (5) and is home to many endangered species of plants
and animals, including the Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse (5). It would be devastating is the casino
drove out these species turning the park into a deserted waste.
The city of Petaluma must also look at the crimes rates associated with casinos.
According to a study done by the University of Georgia, crime rates raise an average of eight
percent when a casino is constructed (6). Casinos are also a house for people with gambling
addiction. The addiction can cost a person their car, their job, and even their family. The quaint
little town of Petaluma doesnt need to be interrupted with an increase in crime and gambling
addicts. Its just completely unnecessary and unwanted. The Study done by the University of
Georgia, looked into FBI profiles to examine which crimes had increased. Among these are
assault, robbery, car break-ins, and rape. Petaluma ranks 3.9 on the national median for violent
crime (7) and it should stay that way. A casino will only increase the rank in the national median.

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It is also easy to say however, that the casino will have some benefits for the city.
The opening of a casino would create hundreds of jobs and bring revenue into the city.
Yet this all comes at the cost of smaller local businesses. This is especially true in severe
cases where the casino is buying more products from out of state than the businesses they
replace. This not only destroys a local family business but can break even with the old
businesses cost of operation. If the casino is importing more products than the old local
business, than there is no economic development (8) and there is no increased revenue
flowing into the city.
Casinos are out in place to help a struggling economy of the casino site. Well that
is true, that casinos do increase the citys revenue, however at what cost? A small
community like Petaluma will be completely overtaken by a booming multi-million
dollar casino. The simple little farming community will be covered in smog and turned
into a gambling waste. Sonoma County attracts its visitors with open space and rolling,
luscious green vineyards. Thats the draw to Sonoma County and with Graton Casino in
Rohnert Park, and the Kastania Casino in Petaluma, that whole factor of tourism will be
desolated.