After 10 years of waiting the city of Barstow, California, the Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeño Indians and Barwest, L.L.C. may be making progress towards put 23 acres near Lenwood into trust for a casino.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs recently released a draft Conformity Determination for the tribe’s application to put the land into trust. This is needed before the tribe can build a casino, hotel and other facilities.
Because the tribe is located more than 100 miles from Lenwood, in San Diego County, it would require a two-part determination for an off-reservation casino under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. That means that both the BIA and the governor of California would need to assent to putting the land into trust. That process seems to be nearing completion, according to reports.
The agreement between the city and the tribe commits the tribe to develop all its facilities in line with the Barstow Municipal Code.
A Barstow city spokesman said last week, “We understand there isn’t a set timeline for the Bureau of Indian Affairs to make a two-part determination, but we’re certainly hopeful that a decision will be made soon. We continue to work with the Los Coyotes tribe and their representatives to help make this project a reality.”
An attorney for the tribe told the Desert Dispatch in March that it expected a decision by the end of 2016. Obviously, that didn’t happen.
The tribe would, of course, like for the BIA to decide before the incoming Trump Administration takes over since it might institute different policies regarding land into trust.
The tribe’s efforts might be affected by two conflicting California court of appeal cases. Cheryl Schmit, director of the casino watchdog group Stand Up for California, told the Desert Dispatch, “The ruling that the governor lacks authority to grant off reservation gaming directly affects Los Coyotes’ proposal in Barstow.”
In December, the Fifth District Court of Appeals in Fresno ruled that California Governor Jerry Brown erred when he concurred with the 2012 decision by the BIA to put 305 acres into trust for the North Fork Rancheria Band of Mono Indians.
Those who successfully appealed that decision by Brown argued: “The California Constitution gives the legislature, not the governor, power to authorize gaming,” and later said, “The Constitution speaks only of ‘the legislature’ allowing or disallowing gaming. The provisions governing gaming fall within the ‘legislative’ article of the Constitution and no California statute authorizes the governor to concur.”
To complicate matters the 3rd District Court of Appeals, based in Sacramento, ruled FOR the governor’s concurrence with the Interior Department’s decision to take 40 acres into trust for the Enterprise Rancheria of Oroville. The United Auburn Indian Community, which opposes at casino in Yuba County, has appealed to the California Supreme Court.
An argument in that appeal was that Brown’s consent was necessary under federal law to granting permission for the tribe to operate a casino.
Ultimately it may be the U.S. Supreme Court that will resolve these conflicting rulings.
