Pinnacle Entertainment Lays Groundwork for Casino Land Seizure

Lee complained to the Casino Control Board that some landowners think they can just name their price and have the casino pay it.

Pinnacle Entertainment is still seeking to acquire the last few properties necessary for the construction of its $2 billion casino in Atlantic City, and negotiations are not going well.

Among the businesses Pinnacle has attempted to buy out along the Boardwalk is the Atlantic City News Agency, owner of a three-story building on Pacific Avenue. Stuart Weiss, operator of the bookstore, had planned to leave the store to his relatives. Now he is listening to offers from Pinnacle, but the two sides are not close to a deal.

Pinnacle has named Weiss as a major thorn in its land acquisitions for the casino project. Dan Lee, chairman and CEO of Pinnacle, has portrayed the bookstore as a "tawdry adult bookstore", even though Weiss' attorney, Glen Zeitz, says most sales are newspapers and periodicals, and lists libraries and public offices among clients.

Lee says that the asking price for the news agency amounts to a rate equivalent to $100 million an acre; but neither side would reveal Pinnacle's exact offer nor Weiss' proposed selling price.

Lee is making the case to the public to prepare for a potential request to the city to employ powers of eminent domain. He characterizes negotiations in the area for casino developers as a "horror show." Speaking of other owners who have dealt with Pinnacle, Lee stated the price asked was either high, or ridiculous. He claimed Pinnacle accepted the high prices, leaving only ridiculous behind.

Still, the principles of private ownership are clear. Pinnacle cannot replace whatever sentimental value Weiss places on his property. If his price is too high, let the project be reconfigured or abandoned, but use of eminent domain is improper and leads to quite a slippery slope.

Eminent domain laws exist for the acquisition of land necessary for public projects, not to force landowners to sell to rich casino operators at a price to their liking. Lee may try to place an image in the public consciousness of an undesirable business, but many think gambling fits that category.

Lee may have spent $270 million to buy and demolish the Sands Casino, and another $90 million buying up surrounding land, but that does not give Pinnacle the right to force the sale of a business in good repute with the Atlantic City Planning Board for thirty-two years.

Lee complained to the Casino Control Board that some landowners think they can just name their price and have the casino pay it. Maybe more people should be complaining about billion-dollar outfits that think they can pay what they choose to level a man's store so that they can start making millions per day.