UKIAH — A Ukiah-area tribe Monday announced a plan to build a casino just north of the city, a long-rumored project that nevertheless dismayed and caught local officials by surprise.

“I am not happy about the prospect of a third casino in the Ukiah Valley,” said City Councilwoman Mari Rodin, alluding to the casinos in Redwood Valley and Hopland, about 10miles north and south of Ukiah.

She said she’s worried about the potential environmental, social and economic effects from another casino.

The Pinoleville Pomo Nation made its announcement after completing a gaming compact with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

“This casino means a brighter future for our nation and our neighbors,” said Leona Williams, chairwoman of the 240-member tribe.

Rumors have circulated for years that the Pinoleville tribe planned to build a casino, but tribal officials had steadfastly denied the rumors.

Williams on Monday admitted the tribe had been planning a casino for many years.

“It’s been a long time,” she said.

Williams noted the agreement with the governor is just the first of many steps the tribe must take before it can build a casino. The compact also must be ratified by the state Legislature before moving forward, she said.

“We’re still in the planning stage,” she said.

She said the tribe has not found financial backers nor decided where it will build the casino, noting the tribe owns three parcels.

The tribe’s 99-acre rancheria fronts Highway 101 about a mile north of Ukiah. Most tribal members live elsewhere, she said.

The compact allows up to 900 slot machines in exchange for giving the state 15 percent of the net revenues, Schwarzenegger’s office said. It requires the tribe to pay into a revenue-sharing trust for non-gaming tribes when it operates more than 700 slot machines.

The tribe also must prepare an environmental impact report and negotiate how it will mitigate off-reservation impacts with the county.

But local officials said impact reports required of tribes are not as comprehensive or binding as those required for other developments.

County Executive Officer Tom Mitchell said the county would involve Ukiah officials in negotiations with the tribe because of the rancheria’s closeness to the city.

Mendocino County Supervisor Carre Brown and Ukiah City Councilman Doug Crane voiced concern.

“I would have a lot of concern about where they’re going to locate it from the viewpoint of traffic and the impact on neighborhoods,” Brown said.

“At the City Council level, we’ve been concerned about development (in that area) that may add traffic and demands for service,” said Crane, who owns land adjacent to the rancheria.

Vehicle access to the rancheria is from Orr Springs Road, a narrow road off one of the narrowest sections of North State Street.

Concern about traffic on Orr Springs Road and North State Street was a major roadblock to a stalled proposal to build houses on agricultural land between the rancheria and a Ukiah subdivision.

Brown wondered about the viability of a third casino in the Ukiah Valley.

“I’m at a loss as to how each one is going to survive financially,” she said.

Plans by the Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians to replace its new casino in Redwood Valley have been put on hold because the tribe has been unable to find financial backers during the recession.

Coyote Valley spokesman Doug Elmets said he doesn’t think a new casino would hurt his tribe’s casino.

“Competition is good,” he said.

He also noted that having a compact signed with the governor does not always lead to a casino.

“It’s still a long road to hoe,” Elmets said.