(a) This chapter shall be known as the “Virgin Islands Casino and Resort Control Act of 1995.”
(b) The Legislature finds that:
(1) The Virgin Islands population as of the 1990 census was 101,809:
(2) On September 17 and 18, 1989, Hurricane Hugo struck the Virgin Islands and caused severe, extensive and widespread damage to the Virgin Islands, particularly on the island of St. Croix, and inflicted severe damage and losses on many residents and businesses on the island. Prior to Hurricane Hugo, St. Croix had 26 hotels and 1,074 hotel rooms, while St. Thomas/St. John had 31 hotels and 2,914 hotel rooms. As of 1993, St. Thomas/St. John has increased its capacity to 39 hotels and 3,354 hotel rooms, whereas St. Croix has 21 hotels, and 895 hotel rooms. St. Croix has yet to recoup its hotel room capacity to pre-Hugo levels. Lack of hotel rooms has directly impacted promotion of St. Croix as a tourism destination and resulted in reduced air flights into the island and increasingly depressed economic conditions.
(3) Visitor arrivals on St. Thomas far surpass St. Croix arrivals, demonstrating a growing tourism disparity between the islands:
| ST. THOMAS/ST. JOHN | ST. CROIX | |||
| 1991 | 1994 | 1991 | 1994 | |
| Air Visitors | 505.7 | 540.7 | 117.2 | 142.3 |
| Cruise Pass.* | 1,214.98 | 1,226.0 | 28.9 | 31.8 |
| *Numbers are in thousands |
(4) The economic disparity is further evidenced by the differing unemployment rate: unemployment on St. Croix for 1994 was 8.2%, whereas unemployment on St. Thomas for the same period was 3.1%.
(5) Moreover, in 1994, banks and financial institutions in the Virgin Islands which engaged in commercial and residential lending throughout the Virgin Islands loaned fifteen (15) times as much in total dollars on St. Thomas as they loaned on St. Croix.
(6) Compounding the depressed economic state on St. Croix, in Mar. 1995, the island's second largest industry and employer, Virgin Islands Alumina Corporation (VIALCO), ceased operation resulting in the layoff of 475 employees. Additionally, in Mar. 1995, the island's largest industrial employer, Hess Oil Virgin Islands Corporation (HOVIC) discharged 175 long-time employees and the possibility of more cuts in the work force exists, further intensifying the unemployment crisis on St. Croix.
(7) Over the past year, one hundred and six (106) businesses on the island of St. Croix have closed their doors and ceased operation. The failures are directly attributable to the extremely depressed economy on that island.
(8) Declaring St. Croix to be the casino zone within the territory in which a limited amount of casino operator licenses in approved areas would be granted, will stimulate economic development on that island. Limiting the number of licenses awarded would attract quality, reputable, established casino operators and ensure that only operators meeting the highest standards of experience and financial integrity will be licensed to operate on the island of St. Croix.
(9) While casino gaming holds promise as a source of economic development and tax revenue, it is not to be viewed as a panacea for the economic depression on St. Croix, but is more appropriately seen by this body as a cornerstone in the St. Croix tourism/entertainment market, as a new and additional revenue source to help expand the number of hotel rooms available on the island, and as a stimulus for local business enterprise development and growth on St. Croix.
(c) The Legislature hereby finds and declares to be the public policy of this Territory the following:
(1) The tourist, resort and convention industry of the Virgin Islands constitutes a critical component of its economic structure and, if properly developed, controlled and fostered, is capable of providing a substantial contribution to the general welfare, health and prosperity of the Virgin Islands and its inhabitants.
(2) The rehabilitation and development of existing tourist and convention facilities on St. Croix, and the fostering and encouragement of new construction and the replacement of lost convention, tourist, entertainment and cultural centers on St. Croix will offer a unique opportunity for the inhabitants of the entire Territory to make maximum use of natural resources available in the Virgin Islands for the expansion and encouragement of the Virgin Islands hospitality industry, and to that end, the development of tourism on St. Croix which will facilitate the restoration of the Virgin Islands as the Playground of the World and the major hospitality center of the Eastern United States is found to be a program of critical concern and importance to the inhabitants of the Territory of the Virgin Islands.
(3) Legalized casino gaming has been approved as a unique tool of development for St. Croix. In this regard, the introduction of a new zoning designation to accommodate gaming which will allow a limited number of casino rooms in major hotel convention complexes, permitted as an additional element in the hospitality industry of the Virgin Islands, will facilitate the redevelopment of existing blighted areas and the refurbishing and expansion of existing hotel, convention, tourist, and entertainment facilities; encourage the replacement of lost hospitality-oriented facilities; provide for judicious use of open space for leisure time and recreational activities; and attract new investment capital to the Virgin Islands in general, and to the island of St. Croix, in particular.
(4) Restricting the issuance of casino licenses to major hotel and convention facilities is designed to assure that the existing nature and tone of the hospitality industry in the Virgin Islands is preserved, and that the casino rooms licensed pursuant to the provisions of this chapter are always offered and maintained as an integral element of such hospitality facilities, rather than as the industry unto themselves that they have become in other jurisdictions.
(5) An integral and essential element of the regulations and control of such casino facilities by the Virgin Islands rests in the public confidence and trust in the credibility and integrity of the regulatory process and casino operations. To further such public confidence and trust, the regulatory provisions of this chapter are designed to extend strict regulation to all persons, locations, practices and associations related to the operation of licensed casino enterprises and all related service industries as herein provided. In addition, licensure of a limited number of casino establishments for St. Croix, with the comprehensive law enforcement supervision attendant thereto, is further designed to contribute to the public confidence and trust in the efficacy and integrity of the regulatory process.
(6) Legalized casino gaming on St. Croix can attain, maintain and retain integrity, public confidence and trust, and remain compatible with the general public interest only under a system of control and regulation as insurers, so far as practicable, the exclusion from participation therein of persons with known criminal records, habits or associations, and the exclusion or removal from any positions of authority or responsibility within casino gaming operations and establishments of any persons known to be so deficient in business probity, ability or experience, either generally or with specific reference to gaming, as to create or enhance the dangers of unsound, unfair or illegal practices, methods and activities in the conduct of gaming or the carrying on of the business and financial arrangements incident thereto.
(7) Since the public has a vital interest in casino operations on St. Croix and has established an exception to the general policy of the Territory concerning gaming for private gain, participation in casino operations as a licensee or registrant under this chapter shall be deemed a revocable privilege conditioned upon the proper and continued qualification of the individual licensee or registrant and upon the discharge of the affirmative responsibility of each such licensee or registrant to provide to the regulatory and investigatory authorities established by this chapter any assistance and information necessary to assure that the policies declared by this chapter are achieved. Consistent with this policy, it is the intent of this chapter to preclude the creation of any property right in any license, registration, certificate or reservation permitted by this chapter, the accrual of any value to the privilege of participation in gaming operations, or the transfer to any license, registration, certificate, or reservation, and to require that participation in gaming be solely conditioned upon the individual qualifications of the person seeking such privilege.
(8) Since casino operations are especially sensitive and in need of public control and supervision, and since it is vital to the interests of the Territory to prevent entry, directly or indirectly, into such operations or the ancillary industries regulated by this chapter of persons who have pursued economic gains in an occupational manner or context which are in violation of the criminal or civil public policies of this Territory, the regulatory and investigatory powers and duties shall be exercised to the fullest extent consistent with law to avoid entry of such persons into the casino operations or the ancillary industries regulated by this chapter.
(9) Since the development of casino gaming operations on St. Croix will substantially alter the environment of Virgin Islands coastal areas, and since it is necessary to insure that this substantial alteration be beneficial to the overall ecology of the coastal areas, the regulatory and investigatory powers and duties conferred by this chapter shall include, in cooperation with other public agencies, the power and duty to monitor and regulate casinos and the growth of casino operations to respond to the needs of the coastal areas.
(10) The facilities in which licensed casinos are to be located are of vital law enforcement interest to the Territory, and it is in the public interest that the regulatory and investigatory powers and duties conferred by this chapter include the power and duty to review architectural and site plans to assure that the proposal is suitable by law enforcement standards.
(11) Since the economic stability of casino operations is in the public interest, the regulatory and investigatory powers and duties conferred by this chapter shall include the power and duty to regulate, control and prevent economic concentration in the casino operations and the ancillary industries regulated by this chapter.
(12) It is in the public interest that the institution of licensed casino establishments in the Virgin Islands be strictly regulated and controlled pursuant to the above findings and pursuant to the provision of this chapter, which provisions are designed to engender and maintain public confidence and trust in the regulation of the licensed enterprises, to provide an effective method of rebuilding and redeveloping existing facilities and of encouraging new capital investment in the Virgin Islands, and to provide a meaningful and permanent contribution to the economic viability of the resort, convention, and tourist industry of the Virgin Islands.
(13) Confidence in casino gaming operations is eroded to the extent the Virgin Islands does not provide a regulatory framework for casino gaming that permits and promotes stability and continuity in casino gaming operations.
(14) Continuity and stability in casino gaming operations cannot be achieved at the risk of permitting persons with unacceptable backgrounds and records of behavior to control casino gaming operations contrary to the vital law enforcement interest of the Territory.
(15) The aims of continuity and stability and of law enforcement will best be served by a system in which continuous casino operation can be assured under certain circumstances wherein there has been a transfer of property or another interest relating to an operation casino and the transferee has not been fully licensed or qualified, as long as control of the operation under such circumstances may be placed in the possession of a person or persons in whom the public may feel a confidence and a trust.
(16) A system whereby the suspension or revocation of casino operations under certain appropriate circumstances causes the imposition of a conservatorship upon the suspended or revoked casino operation serves both the economic and law enforcement interests involved in casino gaming operations.