Ridgefield man disputes designation of casino’s location

“It’s just a matter of truth in reporting,” he said. “Or just call it Ilani.”

The 152-acre Cowlitz reservation, the right to which was recently affirmed by a federal appeals court, is land held in trust by the federal government, though within the boundary of Clark County.

For the official location of the reservation — beyond roughly latitude 45.85, longitude -122.7 — the county’s highest-ranking geographer seems to have an answer.

“I would probably describe it as unincorporated Clark County northwest of Exit 16 on I-5,” said Bob Pool, manager of the county’s Geographic Information Services department.

Pool said postal cities can be a point of contention. For example, the Clark County Event Center at the Fairgrounds has a Ridgefield mailing address but is not in city limits, so it will often be referred to as “near Ridgefield.” At the border of Camas and Vancouver, some Camas residents have Vancouver addresses and vice versa.

“As I recall, the city of Camas tried to get the post office to change their ZIP code areas to match city limits,” he said. “The USPS said they were not interested.”

As for Hatcher’s assertion that the Cowlitz reservation is in Ridgefield?

“Ridgefield is the correct postal city,” Poll said. “If you wanted to send a letter, that is what you would need to use as jurisdiction. From a service level, it is unincorporated Clark County; the jurisdiction is Clark County, since you go to the county offices for permitting, code enforcement, law enforcement, etc.”

Regardless of exactly where the reservation or Ilani casino and resort is on a map, Hatcher intends to be there in person when it opens in April.

“I’ll be there, probably camped out at the front door.”