On April 10, the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians issued a report citing the potential economic benefit of constructing homes on its rural Camp 4 property in the Santa Ynez Valley. Tribe officials say the project, which has received ample scrutiny from some valley residents, would create hundreds of jobs and infuse some life into the county’s economy.
The tribe commissioned Santa Barbara-based California Economic Forecast Project to produce the 24-page report.
Chumash leaders are planning to annex 1,400 acres of land at the intersection of highways 154 and 246, which the tribe purchased from Fess Parker Enterprises in 2010.
The tribe has said it intends to build additional single-family homes on the property, however opponents say the process is the first step to building another casino.
According to the report, the county’s construction workforce shrank by approximately 3,500 jobs between February 2007 and December 2011. Additional findings in the report show the Camp 4 project could create between 100 and 360 construction jobs during its peak development years. In addition, between 350 and 425 jobs overall would be created in the county during the peak years of the project.
The report focuses only on the economic impacts of the project; it doesn’t analyze the costs or impacts of housing.
According to the report, estimated costs of the project range from $132 million to $179 million, with construction set to begin as early as July 2012.
The Chumash are trying to add the land through the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ fee-to-trust process. According to the bureau, the fee-to-trust process is a real-estate transaction that converts lands from private title to a federal title.
Once this is complete, the land in question is placed under the control of the United States government, which transfers it to jurisdiction of an Indian Tribal government while still acting as fiduciary. By placing the land under federal ownership, the property is exempt from state and local taxes.
The tribe’s existing reservation, 30 percent of the land being hillside or creek bed, is running out of room to accommodate the tribe’s 143 members and the additional 500 children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.
The tribe has said that they don’t intend to build another casino on the property.
Tribal chairman Vincent Armenta didn’t return calls for comment as of press time. Members of the public can access a copy of the report at chumashfacts.org.
This article appears in Apr 19-26, 2012.