Colorado Limits Casinos to Three Historic Mining Towns

Colorado's constitution, not any city ordinance, decides where a casino can exist. Article XVIII, § 9(1) made limited gaming lawful in the City of Central, the City of Black Hawk, and the City of Cripple Creek as of October 1, 1991, and nowhere else in the state, a city cannot rezone its way into casino gaming without a statewide constitutional amendment. Section 9(3)(a) pins each city's gaming zone to a specific, decades-old ordinance: Central City's commercial district as defined October 7, 1981, Black Hawk's as defined May 4, 1978, and Cripple Creek's as defined December 3, 1973. Those boundaries are written into the constitution itself, so a city council cannot quietly expand the gaming footprint by amending its own zoning code.

Section 9(3)(b) adds a design mandate on top of the geographic one: gaming structures must conform to the architectural styles and designs common to the area before World War I, as the municipal governing body determines, regardless of when the building was actually constructed, new buildings have to be built to look old. Section 9(3)(c) then caps intensity of use within that historic footprint: no more than 35% of a building's total square footage, and no more than 50% of any single floor, may be devoted to limited gaming, forcing casinos into mixed-use buildings with hotel, restaurant, and retail space alongside the gaming floor.

A baseline 2 a.m.-to-8 a.m. closure applies under § 9(3)(d), though § 9(7) lets each city's own voters extend hours, approved games, and single-bet limits within that city's gaming district by local election. The appointed Limited Gaming Control Commission administers licensing, operating through the Colorado Division of Gaming (Department of Revenue). Gaming tax revenue is split under § 9(5)(b)(II): 50% to the state general fund, 28% to the state historical fund, 12% to Gilpin and Teller counties, and 10% back to the three host cities, in proportion to each city's gaming revenue.

Because the gaming zones are fixed in the constitution, operating slot machines, blackjack, or poker for stakes outside the licensed districts of Central City, Black Hawk, or Cripple Creek is not a zoning violation: it's unlicensed gambling under the Colorado Limited Gaming Act, enforced by the Division of Gaming. A licensed structure that exceeds the 35%/50% gaming-floor caps or drifts from the required pre-WWI architectural conformance risks license conditions or denial from the Limited Gaming Control Commission at renewal.