The Southern California Jamul Indian Village has broken ground on its 0 million Hollywood Casino on a 6-acre plot near state Route 94 that is expected to open late next year.
The three-story, 200,000 square foot casino will have 1,700 slots and 50 gaming tables.
More than 20 years in the making, the fact that the casino has started construction has not stopped the efforts of opponents, including Jamulians Against the Casino, most local and some San Diego County officials.
Their concerns include impacts on local roads, native species and groundwater. They claim that the proper environmental review is lacking for the casino. It doesn’t hurt their cause that one county official in their corner, Dianne Jacob, a member of the Board of Supervisors, is a Jamul resident.
The Jamulians Against the Casino have used a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision as their legal justification for suing in federal court, claiming that the six acres do not qualify as reservation land. They cite the Carcieri v. Salazar case of 2009, where the high court ruled that tribes recognized after 1934 by the federal government cannot put land into trust as reservation land. They note that the Jamul Indian Village was not recognized until after 1934.
As might be expected the tribe disagrees. According to Tribal Chairman Raymond Hunter, quoted by KPBS, “Jamul Indian Village of California is a federally recognized Sovereign Nation. As outlined by the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs, JIV has the immunities and privileges available to other federally acknowledged Indian tribes by virtue of our government-to-government relationship with the United States of America.”
Both the County and Jamulians Against the Casino are also suing the state’s transportation department, Caltrans, for helping the tribe with traffic easements and improvements on Highway 94.
According to the tribe, the only purpose that will serve is to overturn the traffic safety plan. “If they are successful, we will have no other option but to use existing access roads for our hauling operations that require no encroachment of public right of ways, but unfortunately will result in our trucks traveling straight through downtown Jamul,” commented Hunter.
