Following objections from officials in Miami-Dade County, the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs has delayed its to take into federal trust the Miccosukee Golf and Country Club in Kendale Lakes, Florida. The BIA had sent a letter of intent to extend the tribe’s territorial rights to Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez in January; however, he lodged a protest in March, demanding to be heard in the process. In addition, petitions are circulating throughout Kendale Lakes. Residents there also gathered more than 1,200 signatures during the first round of petitions in 2012.
Randall Trickey, acting director for the Eastern Region for the BIA in Nashville, Tennessee, said, “A public hearing for a land trust application is only held when a casino issue may be at stake. Otherwise, we generally follow the recommendations we receive from the local government authority before extending the trust.” He added an Environmental Impact Statement then is required for those applications.
The petition stated, “As a citizen of the West Kendall Community, I object to this property becoming a Tribal Trust, which would deny Miami-Dade County Government, and our citizens, having any regulatory authority. I object to the golf course and country club becoming a Tribal Trust and demand public hearing for the residents.”
Meanwhile, Assistant County Attorney Ileana Cruz wrote a 32-page Comment Letter to the BIA, asking for a 30-day delay. The letter includes documents dating back to the tribe’s original land-trust application in 2003. At the time, then-County Manager George Burgess led a formal protest that stopped the process until July 2012, when the tribe re-applied for land-trust status and protests began anew. Nothing happened until January when Gimenez received the BIA’s request for county data.
Cruz noted, “With a population of nearly 60,000 and over 19,000 households, Kendale Lakes suffers from high volume traffic.” She also stated the BIA lacks statutory authority because the tribe does not meet the definition of “Indian tribe” as set stated in land-trust applications. Also her document said the property was dedicated “to the local residents pursuant to a 99-year use-restriction covenant that would conflict with a tribal takeover.”
Cruz also noted the golf club is not contiguous to the Miccosukee’s primary reservation land, and challenges the Miccosukee’s ability to provide police and fire services. She wrote, “Removing the property from the county’s jurisdiction will undermine its ability to protect the general welfare of the public, and other property owners within the county will face reduced property values.”
