Scotts Valley tribe’s $700M Solano County casino in legal limbo, preview site set to open soon

By Ashley Sharp

The Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians announced it will soon open a “preview casino” on its trust land in Vallejo. 

It comes as the tribe’s plans to build a massive $700 million casino and resort project have hit a major federal roadblock, leaving the project in legal limbo. 

Scotts Valley is still waiting for the official green light from the United States Department of the Interior (DOI). The federal agency continues to reconsider whether or not the tribe is eligible for gaming on the site, after issuing an initial approval in January 2025. 

The federal government acknowledged the approval may have been a “legal error” and walked it back in March 2025. The DOI initiated a reconsideration process following multiple lawsuits filed against the agency by several other local tribes opposed to the project. 

“That is ancestral Patwin territory. It has been, it always will be,” said Anthony Roberts, tribal chairman of the Yoche Dehe Wintun Nation. 

Yoche Dehe, Lytton Rancheria of California, United Auburn Indian Community and the Kletsel Dehe Wintun Nation have publicly opposed Scotts Valley’s casino project and announced last week their opposition to the preview casino. 

“Our concern here is specific and process-based,” said Chairman Charlie Wright of the Kletsel Dehe Wintun Nation. “Where the Department of the Interior is actively reconsidering gaming eligibility, and the court has cautioned against reliance on interim decisions, moving forward with gaming activity at this site before that review is complete risks undermining trust in the process and creating avoidable conflict among tribes and local communities.” 

Roberts rejects the claim that Scotts Valley is a ‘landless’ tribe and says it took advantage of an exception in the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act that was meant to allow landless tribes to recover portions of their former reservations. 

He argues the Scotts Valley Band has no legitimate ancestral connection to the land in Vallejo. 

“Their tribal government headquarters is in Lake County, 100 miles from where they’re trying to develop a parcel of land that is being stolen. There are no other words for it,” said Roberts. “Our fight from day one has never been to hold the tribe down. It’s been to protect the resources that we’ve protected in our ancestral lands for generations.” 

In late 2025, a federal judge out of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia rejected Scotts Valley’s attempt to stop the DOI reconsideration process. 

With that judge’s ruling came a warning that if the tribe develops on the land before a final federal approval is granted, it comes at their own risk. 

“We felt that the Department of the Interior has done a misjustice to both of our tribes, pitting us against one another. It’s unfortunate. This is precedent setting for the state of California, if this goes forward, and it will be a bad precedent to set,” said Roberts. 

Yoche Dehe owns Cache Creek Casino Resort in neighboring Yolo County.   

In a statement to the Vallejo Times Herald in January, Scotts Valley tribal chairman Shawn Davis said, “We are moving forward despite the misleading opposition from a small handful of greedy casino operators led by Cache Creek… It has taken generations of struggle for us to get to this point, and we are looking forward to building shared prosperity.” 

Roberts said their opposition boils down to something else entirely. 

“This is never about greed on our part. It’s about another tribe breaking centuries-old cultural traditions and trying to set up shop in another tribe’s ancestral homeland,” said Roberts. 

He said it has been an emotional fight for Yoche Dehe, as the precious resources they are working to protect on the land are the remains of those native to it. 

“We’re talking about our ancestors, our relatives who are buried within these lands. So myself, or nobody in their right mind, would walk into your home, ask for a shovel, and go and dig up your relatives. And then cast those as insignificant,” said Roberts. “It’s hurtful, it’s disgusting and it’s just disrespectful. We’re going to continue to fight this.” 

A final ruling by the DOI on Scotts Valley’s gaming eligibility is expected this summer. 

CBS Sacramento reached out to Scotts Valley tribal leadership for comment on this story. We have not yet heard back. 

At the preview casino site, modular buildings are constructed along Columbus Parkway in Vallejo. No official opening date has been confirmed, though tribal leaders previously reported they expected the site to open in January 2026.