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Stardancer Casino Cruises says it would help bring a lively waterfront to Port Richey.
By MATTHEW WAITE
© St. Petersburg Times, published April 11, 2001
PORT RICHEY -- With the feud between two competing casino companies at a stalemate, another front in the Port Richey gambling boat wars is emerging: the public relations battle.
Sam Gray, the president and CEO of Stardancer Casino Cruises, says his company will contribute to the city -- both in adding 150 jobs and giving money to local projects like the dredging efforts and the hike and bike trails -- and even said what to some local politicians are the magic words: "John's Pass."
Gray said he wants to make the Port Richey waterfront a destination, much like the popular waterfront district John's Pass in Pinellas County. Local dreamers have been saying that about their waterfront for years.
"That's what this city needed," said mayoral candidate Bob Leggiere. "An injection like that."
Stardancer is moving in next door to Paradise of Port Richey, the gambling boat company that has run boats out of its location since 1995. And since Stardancer's arrival, the two competing companies have been feuding over submerged land and property lines.
But in 1998, when Paradise began snatching up land around the Port Richey waterfront to block another boat from coming in, co-owner Mollie Kolokithas said some of the same things Gray is saying now. She talked about waterfront redevelopments and helping the area grow.
Since then, the company and the city have crossed each other, most recently with Paradise suing the city for allegedly not enforcing building codes on a restaurant across the river long rumored -- incorrectly -- to have designs on a gambling boat.
Stardancer is leasing waterfront property from former City Council member Ron Barnett, as well as other property for parking and a ticket office. Their proximity has Paradise on the defensive. Employees have been watching Stardancer's every move, calling city officials to question permits and procedures.
On Monday, the feud heated to the point that police werecalled and a Paradise employee was arrested on a criminal mischief charge. Officers told Paradise to quit blasting the horn on its boat, and representatives of the two companies filed trespassing complaints about the other.
Paradise claims Stardancer is dredging on Paradise's property, according to Paradise's recent survey of the property lines. Stardancer, armed with a different survey, said Paradise's boats are being parked in Stardancer's water, and blocking the dredging efforts.
On Tuesday, city officials and Department of Environmental Protection officers backed away from the feud. To them, the matter will have to be settled in civil court, a destination Paradise lawyers promised on Monday.
Kolokithas said her company feels like it isn't getting fair treatment from authorities: Paradise complained about noise from the dredging over the weekend, and no police came out. When they blew their horns, officers were there to tell them to stop.
Gray said Tuesday he welcomes the competition.
"We love it," he said.