ATLANTIC CITY -- The owner of the former Revel casino said that at least part of the boardwalk property would be open by June 15.
That date came and went. The resort is still closed.
It's likely to remain that way until after summer is over.
Why the delays?
"Government, government, government," charges Florida real estate developer Glenn Straub.
Straub claims the building was ready to open a month ago. But his company, Polo North Country Club, had not secured the permits it needed to reopen the property at that time -- and it still has yet to do so.
And now state officials say the earliest Polo North can get a key approval is late September.
When Revel shut down in 2014 along with three other boardwalk casinos (one of which has since reopened as a non-casino hotel), the certificate of occupancy for the 6.2-million-square-foot complex was revoked. Polo North has to address a number of issues with the city and the state-run agency that regulates land use within the city's tourism district before it receives a new certificate.
Dale Finch, the director of Atlantic City's licensing and inspections department, said Polo North has been gathering paperwork, including information on the alarm and sprinkler systems, that the city needs before it will inspect the property ahead of issuing a temporary certificate of occupancy.
But Polo North must also get land use approval from the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, or CRDA, before getting the certificate from the city, officials said. Without that certificate, the property cannot be reopened.
Lance Landgraf, director of planning for the CRDA, said the agency's goal is to get the building "safely activated and up and running. We really want to see that end of the boardwalk start to move forward."
Florida real estate developer Glenn Straub stands outside the former Revel site in this April 2015 photo. (Vernon Ogrodnek | The Press of Atlantic City/AP)
But Straub contends the agency is making his company jump through unnecessary hoops in order to reopen the property.
Polo North applied to the CRDA in June for a certificate of land use compliance and the agency denied the request, saying Polo North needed to apply for site plan approval, a more lengthy process that requires a hearing and a vote by the agency's full board. The certificate of land use compliance is typically issued when the agency gives site plan approval, Landgraf said.
CRDA spokeswoman Elaine Zamansky said Polo North filed its site plan application on Tuesday. The application will be presented at a public hearing on August 18 and, if approved, will go to the full board on September 20, Zamansky said.
Landgraf said the agency requested Polo North submit an amended site plan because a ropes course that is being installed at the property changes how traffic flows through the site.
Straub, who previously talked about building a "university for geniuses" and housing Syrian refugees at the Revel site, has announced plans to build a water park and an equestrian facility at the resort that his company bought for $82 million in 2015. The casino and hotel cost $2.4 billion to build.
The CRDA also said in a June 23 letter that any approval "will be conditioned upon the payment of any outstanding balance due for Special Improvement District assessments." Zamansky said Polo North owes more than $87,600.
The Special Improvement District is a division of the CRDA that provides landscaping, maintenance and other services within the city's tourism district.
Though officials said Polo North has submitted its site plan application, the company has made clear its intent to fight the CRDA over the issue.
Polo North's lawyers sent a letter dated July 13 to the CRDA appealing the agency's decision. The same day Polo North filed a complaint against the agency in state Superior Court in Atlantic County.
The complaint argues that site plan approval is not required for CRDA to issue a certificate of land use compliance and that no rule permits the CRDA to withhold land use approvals for outstanding balances connected to the Special Improvement District.
The complaint also contends that the CRDA is "not entitled to the full amount" of the Special Improvement District assessment being charged to Polo North.
Zamansky said on Wednesday that the agency had not yet "been officially served so we have not yet responded."
In addition to the CRDA, Straub has also pinned blame on state gaming regulators for stalling the reopening of a casino at the site. A statement issued to reporters in June said that the state's Division of Gaming Enforcement was requiring Polo North to go through an extensive licensing process though it wants to lease the casino to an outside operator.
The statement charged the division with putting up "a roadblock that is inappropriate and unnecessary."
Kerry Langan, a spokeswoman for the state Division of Gaming Enforcement, said in an email that "the division remains in discussions with Mr. Straub and his gaming attorneys but we cannot comment on any details regarding an ongoing investigation."
Straub said he still plans to reopen the resort.
But as far as a potential opening date is concerned, he puts it this way: "If you can tell me when the government is going to quit being government, then we can tell you when we'll be up and running."
Erin O'Neill may be reached at eoneill@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @LedgerErin. Find NJ.com on Facebook.