The owner of a card room license for the former Blacksheep Casino in Cameron Park received county approval this week to relocate the operation to El Dorado Hills.

License holder Randy Yaple is proposing to convert the former Sienna restaurant space at 3909 Park Drive in the La Borgata center into an upscale eatery featuring a seasonal menu and card room offering poker games. Sienna relocated to a nearby restaurant space in El Dorado Hills earlier this year, leaving behind a 9,515-square-foot building in the dining and retail center, which is owned by Ethan Conrad Properties Inc.

On Tuesday, the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the license relocation after agency officials from the sheriff’s office, fire department, and building and planning department determined the site was suitable for the intended use. The applicant will still need to provide a full plan for approval to the fire department, and have various aspects of the project signed off on by the county’s chief building official, in addition to obtaining building permits for tenant improvements and signage prior to opening for business.

“Now that the local approval for the relocation has been granted, we can move forward with the application for relocation with the state,” Yaple said in a statement emailed to the Business Journal through public affairs firm California Strategies LLC. “Tenant improvement plans are currently in the review process with the county and we hope to have a building permit and be able to begin construction in the upcoming weeks.”

Yaple said the proposed card room portion of the business, which is being branded as El Dorado Hills Casino, would occupy roughly 2,900 square feet of the space and would include up to 10 tables of poker and various card games. The restaurant would occupy the remainder of the space, and include a large patio space for outdoor dining. Yaple said the branding of the restaurant portion of the venue is still being determined but will be decided in the near future.

Yaple said the project is targeting an opening in the first quarter of 2024.

While Yaple is the current license holder, he’s in the process of selling it to a new entity. He said he’s entered into an agreement with Cold Water Partners Inc., in which he is a minority shareholder. Salvatore Palma is listed as the CEO of Cold Water Partners Inc. on the California Secretary of State’s website.

In an email to the Business Journal, Palma said Cold Water Partners was formed several years ago with a different intent that never came to fruition, but the entity still had active status so it was repurposed for this acquisition. Palma did not immediately elaborate on his background. Details regarding the purchase price of the card room license were not disclosed.

The license sale is subject to approval by the California Gambling Control Commission and El Dorado County. California Gambling Control Commission spokesperson Fred Castano said the state Department of Justice’s Bureau of Gambling Control will review any license sale and write a background investigation report before making a recommendation to the commission. The commission will then review the report and recommendation, make its own recommendation, and the commissioners will consider the transaction and licensure for approval at a public meeting, he said.

Yaple said he’s submitted the purchase agreement, as well as an application for the transfer of ownership, to the state regulatory agency. A representative of the Bureau of Gambling Control did not respond to a request for comment.