A Culinary Union-backed ballot measure that would have killed plans for a Station Casinos resort in Northern Nevada fell more than 1,000 signatures short of qualifying for the November election, a city of Reno spokeswoman said Tuesday.

The state's largest labor organization needed 11,661 valid signatures to qualify a measure for the Nov. 7 ballot that required gaming companies building casinos outside Reno's traditional gaming corridor to first get permission from local residents and to offer a payment to help the city reduce its $236 million redevelopment debt.

On June 30, the Culinary Local 226 submitted petitions to the Reno city clerk with more than 16,000 names. The Washoe County Election Department, verifying the signatures on behalf of Reno, said only 10,615 signatures were from valid registered voters in the city.

"It took several weeks to verify the signatures because an initial sample fell short of the needed number," said Reno spokeswoman Terri Hendry. "(The Election Department) then needed to count every signature on the petition at that point."

The Culinary, which has a long-standing dispute with Las Vegas-based Station Casinos over organizing the company's employees, worked with Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, a grass-roots political organization, to gather signatures over a two-month period.

Union officials said they undertook the ballot measure process to make casino companies help pay down the city's debt that accumulated through redevelopment efforts such as the Retrac railroad trench project.

Reno officials did not take a stand on the proposed ballot measure, saying the debt was being paid down through a combination of room taxes, sales taxes and a $60 million payment from Union Pacific Railroad.

"Obviously, we're disappointed and we're not expecting to take any further action," Culinary spokesman Chris Bohner said. "There were a lot of people who signed the petition, but apparently they weren't registered to vote. It's unfortunate."

Bohner said the union represents about 2,000 casino workers in Reno and the organization will begin negotiating new contracts for those employees.

If the petition had reached the ballot, Station Casinos was the most-likely affected casino operator.

The company has plans to build two casinos in Reno; a 500-room, 17-story hotel-casino near the Reno-Sparks Convention Center and a larger $500 million resort near the Mount Rose Highway next to the newly opened Summit Sierra shopping center.

The convention center site would not have been affected by the measure.

The company conducted a radio advertising and direct mail campaign to try and thwart the signature gathering effort. Station Casinos also enlisted the help of downtown Reno business owners and Northern Nevada casino operators to fight the union's efforts.

Station Casinos spokeswoman Lori Nelson wouldn't say how much the company spent on the matter.

"We believe it was irresponsible by the Culinary Union to force the city to use resources and taxpayer dollars on this initiative," Nelson said. "They were shameless in their efforts."

Hendry called the cost of verifying the petition's signatures to Reno, "pretty substantial." She said, "thousands of dollars would be a pretty accurate portrayal. But that's what we do. It's one of our roles and functions."