The property has an assessed value of $68.5 million. Those two properties make up the bulk of the 1,973 acres Sycuan is seeking to add to its reservation. It paid $25 million in 2004 for 1,233 acres in Sloane Canyon, including a sand mine it quickly closed.

The tribe bought the 307-acre Singing Hills Country Club, now called Sycuan Resort, for $40.7 million in 2001. Until now, it has not sought to annex its largest land purchases. The Sycuan reservation was established in 1875 as a square mile – 640 acres.Īfter opening its casino in 1983, the tribe several times persuaded federal officials to give it jurisdiction over land it bought, adding about 170 acres, according to county property records. “We’re caretakers of this land,” Tucker said. Most of the land will be kept as open space, including areas with hiking and horse-riding trails along the Sweetwater River, tribal leaders said. The 188-member Sycuan tribe said it wants to bring the land into trust to build an RV park, powwow grounds, an equestrian center, about 50 houses for tribal members and a pavilion for weddings and other events that features golf-course views. On California Indian reservations, state criminal laws are enforced by sheriff’s deputies and the Highway Patrol, but most other state and local laws do not apply, including regulations on land use and the environment and codes covering home construction and animal control. “Land is so important to so many tribes around the country, not only because of the history of having it taken away, but also culturally speaking,” said Kathryn Rand, dean of the University of North Dakota’s law school and an Indian gaming expert.īut efforts to exercise sovereign power over land once controlled by non-Indians often draws criticism not only from gambling foes but also from those who fear an erosion of property taxes and local government control, Rand said. The Sycuan Band of Mission Indians is one of many tribes nationwide that have bought land in recent years and then sought to annex it to their reservations.

The application to the federal government rankled neighbors who say traffic and crime have changed the once-tranquil Dehesa Valley since the Sycuan Casino opened and question the need for the change.

“We have no plans to put a casino anywhere but where it is right now,” Sycuan Chairman Daniel Tucker said. The tribe earlier this year scuttled plans for a second casino.

Sycuan casino age to gamble