Like its gaming neighbor San Jose to the north, Gilroy may soon tout in neon lights its gambling enterprise to folks driving on Highway 101.
The city Planning Commission has approved a move by Gilroy’s only card room from its small, long-time downtown headquarters to a spacious, 9,000-square-foot shopping center building.
The site is next to the city’s recreational shopping mecca, the Gilroy Premium Outlets, just east of the north-south freeway.
The new Garlic City Card Room Casino, with full restaurant and bar and 30 employees will count as its neighbors the likes of Saks Fifth Avenue, Abercrombie & Fitch, J. Crew, Banana Republic and Erik’s Deli, to name a few.
Plans call for installation on the building of two large red neon signs that will be visible from the freeway, mostly to drivers heading south.
Approval of the casino move will open its current location to other possible uses that some officials believe could be more compatible with the downtown.
It also comes a week after city officials confirmed they are in talks with water park giant Great Wolf Resort Lodge. The firm is exploring construction of an indoor water slide complex, conference center and 500- to 600-room hotel on the grounds of the Gilroy Gardens theme park on Hecker Pass Highway, across town from the new casino site.
Like his peers, Planning Commission vice chair Paul Kloecker voted to approve the casino plan, but not before voicing concerns.
He worried that calling the operation a casino might suggest the business offers more than the limited number of card games allowed by city law—or worse, would lead to an expansion into such things as slot machines, which are illegal.
“If it’s a card room, label it a card room, that’s what it is,” he said in an interview before the commission’s Aug. 18 meeting.
Today, the downtown gaming business across from the Gilroy Center for the Arts in the city’s business district south of Sixth Street appears to go by at least two names. The building signage says Garlic City Club. However, the large sidewalk sign reads, Garlic City Casino and Restaurant.
Inside, the operation, which has existed for at least 30 years, is small and cramped. A sign on the door warns it’s off limits to anyone under 21 years old.
Like the current operation, the new location would be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The request to relocate from casino owner Ky Phoun comes on the heels of approval for an increase in the number of tables allowed in the Hornlein Court card room, near the intersection of Monterey Road and East Seventh Street, from eight to 10.
Approval of the move to the shopping center just south of Staples and Home Depot on San Ysidro Avenue keeps the table number at 10.
However, Phoun will have 14 gaming tables because card games such as blackjack use different shaped tables than those used for the types of poker played, according to Planning Commissioner Steve Ashford.
He said Tuesday that the table limit will stay as is and that he expects the owners to follow the law.
“You can’t have slot machines in California, so they are not going to do something illegal. And only 10 tables will be used at any one time, the [city] law says that is all they can have playing,” Ashford said.
Phuon said Wednesday he’s looking forward to attracting more customers from outside Gilroy to the casino and restaurant with the new, more visible location.
“I hope to get people from the freeway to come and eat the food and gamble a little bit before they go home,” he said.
Phuon was uncertain about when he’ll open, but said if all goes well it will be in November.
At 2,500 square feet, the existing facility is just too small, said Phuon, who commutes from San Ramon to Gilroy to run his casino, which he has owned for 10 years. Except for the size of the building, the scale of the business and a nicer environment for patrons, everything he offers at the current site will be the same at the new venue, Phuon said.
Regarding the signs, Ashford said the new signage will be no different from that of existing businesses in the shopping district.
“Right next door is Home Depot with a bright orange sign and next door to that is Staples, which has a bright red sign, and all meet the city ordinance for size. The city attorney made sure we all were aware the signage is in compliance with the city laws,” Ashford said.
He applauded the move because he believes the new location in the 100,000-square-foot San Ysidro Center will bolster that struggling shopping venue, which has been plagued since its construction by vacancies.
Indeed, the building now slated for the casino was to be occupied by the Best Empire Buffet restaurant, which never opened, according to the city staff report on the casino’s request for a conditional use permit to operate. City staff recommended approval.
The building to be occupied by the casino and 12-table restaurant and bar is at the far eastern end of the u-shaped center.
It is surrounded on three sides by retail shops and eateries and to the east by expanses of farmed land that is zoned for large-scale agriculture.
Saint Louise Regional Hospital is less than a quarter mile to the north, on No Name Uno Road.
The Planning Commission vote was unanimous with commission chair Sue Rodriquez absent.
Unless the decision is appealed to the City Council, the commission’s action is final.
