The San Diego County Board of Supervisors in Southern California has approved a memorandum of understanding with the Jamul Indian Village of east San Diego County.
The tribe stands ready to open its $400 million Hollywood Casino Jamul-San Diego, to be built and operated by Penn National Gaming. The grand opening is expected this summer.
The 200,000 square foot casino will have 1,700 slot machines, nearly 50 gaming tables, restaurants, bars, a Tony Gwynn sports bar and 1,900 spaces of parking.
The agreement was adopted on a 3-1 vote, with one supervisor, Diane Jacob, a resident of Jamul, opposed.
The MOU between county and tribe calls for mitigation of hazardous materials, storm water runoff, noise, air quality and other environmental impacts associated with the casino according to county regulations, although the tribe would normally operate under federal regulations.
The tribe first negotiated a state tribal gaming compact with California in 1999. The compact does not require any pact with the county or a California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review.
The MOU does give the county some mitigation that it would automatically get if a commercial development were built in the unincorporated area. The tribe has said it intends to mitigate all adverse impacts on the surrounding area.
Erica Pinto, chairwoman of Jamul Indian Village reacted to the vote: “We are grateful for the supervisors’ vote today and county staff’s work on the government-to-government negotiations during the past year.”
She added, “It’s important because we are good neighbors. Our mantra is public safety. The public is going to get so much from this and so are we.”
The MOU is the second agreement between tribe and county this year. The first was a Fire and Life Safety services agreement adopted in January. The tribe agreed to pay nearly $5 million in initial payments and equipment and then $2.75 million each year.
Hundreds of residents packed the supervisors’ chambers to address concerns of traffic, congestion and the impact on schools.
Previously the Jamul-Dulzura Planning Group opposed the agreement.
It claims that the MOU does not provide for enough for road and highway improvements.
Supervisor Jacob observed, “I find myself in a difficult situation, to approve an agreement on a casino that I do not agree with. My opposition to this casino is well documented for 20 years. Nice building, wrong location.”
The state has already committed to widen State Highway 94 from two lanes to four, but the MOU addresses impacts to purely county roads as well.
All told, the combined mitigation payments from the tribe to the county could total more than $90 million over the next 20 years.
The tribe’s casino is still under challenge in federal court by opponents who claim that the Jamul Village is not a legal tribe and does not have a legal reservation.
The Department of the Interior clearly believes that Jamul Village is a tribe, so did a federal district court in January, when it rejected the challenge. That ruling is being appealed.
