FRUITPORT TOWNSHIP, MI - The fast-growing suburb with the county's biggest mall is ready for the county's only casino, leaders at the tribe and township say.

The Little River Band of Ottawa Indians proposes to build a $180 million casino, hotel and retail development on Ellis Road, not far from the Lakes Mall.

The casino is still far from being built, but on Monday, Feb. 23, the tribe turned over a massive application document to the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs - a big step forward for a project that has been in the planning for seven years.

RELATED: Timeline of Fruitport tribal casino planning over the years

The casino would hold 1,700 slot machines, and 35 table games adjacent to a 220-room hotel with conference and meeting room space, dining and entertainment options, according to the Little River Band.

Although there have been skeptics of the casino in the past, the band's Ogema or elected leader, Larry Romanelli, said he hasn't heard from them recently.

"The response I'm aware of has all been positive," Romanelli said. "We really haven't had much of that lately."

Opponents of the casino have opposed gambling for moral reasons or said that a gaming facility will likely encourage crime.

Romanelli said the same naysaying happened in 1999 when the Little River Band built its first casino, in Manistee. But all of the forecasted crime and unease never arrived as the casino became the top employer of Manistee, population 6,226.

"When you have jobs and people making money, it actually does help the crime rate," Romanelli said.

The 1,200 jobs the band estimates its casino would offer aren't just "front-of-the-house" jobs like serving drinks or dealing cards, he added. At the "back" of the casino are the white-collar workers.

"It offers a good mix of people. We're talking accountants and attorneys," he said. "I think we'd be very good neighbors."

Fruitport Township Supervisor Brian Werschem thinks the casino will fit into that community nicely, just off the highway and near the Lakes Mall. The township, population 13,600, is one of the region's leading communities for economic and residential growth, he said - growth that will only be accelerated by dropping a $180-million dollar development in the middle of it.

But he hopes the development will be focused southeast of I-96, and that the township will still stay mostly rural east of Dangl Road.

"We will continue to strive towards that for the time being," he said. "We pride ourselves on being a little bit of everything."

Another benefit from the development is the Seventh Generation Fund that Werschem, Muskegon County Commissioner Ken Mahoney and other local officials negotiated for when the tribe sought their endorsement years ago. Included in the finished agreement was a commitment by the tribe to place 2 percent of all electronic gaming proceeds into a fund that could be used for a variety of civic projects.

"I'm a Muskegon resident. I have every reason to do something that helps the local region," Romanelli said. "I don't think (the casino) solves everything, but I think it could help jump-start the local economy."