The Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians no longer has to worry about a lawsuit preventing the Chumash Casino Resort expansion, because a federal judge recently threw the case out.
On July 2, Judge R. Gary Klausner granted the tribe’s request to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a Santa Ynez Valley group called Save the Valley, LLC. The reason? Because the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians is a federally recognized sovereign tribe of Native Americans, and U.S. courts have no jurisdiction over them.
But the judge also cited another reason: failure to join a necessary and indispensable party. This basically means that, as a trustee to Chumash tribal land, the U.S. government should’ve been included as a co-defendant in the lawsuit. The U.S. government can’t be sued because it’s protected by sovereign immunity, according to Mike Traphagen, a spokesman for the Chumash.
In July 2014, the Chumash announced plans to expand its existing casino, which included a new 12-story high-rise hotel, a new restaurant, more administrative space, a five-story parking garage, and an add-on to the casino proper.
In the judge’s dismissal order, he details that local government entities didn’t receive this news well, submitting comments to the tribe that the project violated several state and county laws, including the Williamson Act, which is a compact with the state that designates the land for agricultural use only.
The Save the Valley lawsuit—filed on April 3 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California and led by Santa Barbara attorney Matthew Clark of Christman, Kelly & Clarke, PC—specifically sought to address environmental concerns. However, the tribe isn’t subject to the county’s planning process.
Clarke didn’t return the Sun’s messages before press time.
Tribal Chairman Vincent Armenta hails the judge’s decision.
“This was yet another frivolous lawsuit brought on by the local tribal opponents,” Armenta said in a prepared statement. “The Save the Valley lawsuit was based on an intentional misreading of the 1935 deed to the U.S. government, which specifically says the property that the tribe occupies is deeded for the purpose of an ‘Indian Reservation.’”
Santa Barbara County 3rd District Supervisor Doreen Farr, who opposes enlarging Chumash tribal land, said the lawsuit wasn’t the right way to go about things.
“While I understand the frustration of many who oppose the expansion of the casino, I always felt this lawsuit was misguided, and it seems the court came to the same conclusion,” Farr said in a statement provided to the Sun via email.
This article appears in Jul 9-16, 2015.
