Scotts Valley wants to build a 400,000-square-foot casino in Vallejo. The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia is saying it may not be able to ante up once litigation is complete.

On Thursday, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia rejected Scotts Valley’s challenges against the Department of the Interior’s reconsideration of the project. The ruling enables the department to move forward with the reconsideration and review all the evidence surrounding the project and issue a final determination on whether the land in question is eligible for gaming.

The court acknowledged that the final determination may eventually include permanent revocation of Scotts Valley’s gaming eligibility determination.

However, Scotts Valley also considered the court’s ruling “a victory” because it restores gaming eligibility to the Tribe’s trust land in Vallejo, although that eligibility could be temporary according to the judge.

The court criticized the DOI for failing to notify Scotts Valley before temporarily rescinding the project’s gaming eligibility determination. But the court also made clear that this error does not limit the agency’s authority to proceed with reconsideration or permanent revocation of the approvals.

“The Court’s remedy does not bar Interior from continuing its reconsideration, nor does it stop the Department from revoking the Band’s gaming eligibility at the end of that process,” District Judge Trevor McFadden explained, For that reason, Scotts Valley would be ill-served by placing undue reliance on today’s decision.”

However, Shawn Davis, Chairman of the Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians, was happy with the court on Thursday.

“Secretary Burgum took an oath to uphold the Constitution, and to our knowledge, he is the only sitting secretary of the Department of the Interior in recent history to be found in violation of the U.S. Constitution,” said Davis. “On behalf of the Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians, I would like to thank the court for recognizing Secretary Burgum’s violation of our constitutional right to due process. Despite our multiple attempts to engage with the department on this matter through proper tribal consultations, Secretary Burgum failed to engage with us. The Band is hopeful that the clarity provided by the Court will foster a more collaborative relationship with the Department moving forward.”

The project in question is the Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians’ proposed 160-acre casino that would include the construction of 24 single-family residences, a tribal administration building, parking garage and a 45-acre biological preserve area located within and adjacent to the city boundary in Solano County, near the intersection of Interstate 80 and Highway 37. The casino facility, at a cost of $700 million, would be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

However, the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation has ongoing litigation with the Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians, arguing that Scotts Valley, hailing from from Lake County, would take the ancestral lands of local Patwin tribes and threaten critical environmental and cultural resources at the project site.