Voters May Weigh In on Tribe’s Plan

PALM SPRINGS —  A gambling tribe’s plan to turn a square mile of Palm Springs into a residential and entertainment district could be placed before voters in November, city officials here said Thursday.

The zoning changes sought by the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians were approved a month ago by the City Council as a key piece of a proposal to link tribal development on the reservation site, known as Section 14, to Palm Springs’ downtown sector and international airport.

Opponents, however, filed a referendum petition Thursday to seek a repeal of that approval by the city’s 22,760 registered voters. The city clerk has 60 days to validate the petition’s signers.

The tribe, which has two casinos and owns half the land in Palm Springs, is not legally obligated to seek the city’s approval for its development plan -- or even zoning changes -- because its land is sovereign territory. Seeking the city’s blessing was touted as a measure of the tribe’s desire to maintain good relations.

Critics, however, collected 3,700 signatures -- 1,500 more than required -- in 2 1/2 weeks from voters, many of whom said they were angry over having been left out of the process. They also worried that the multibillion-dollar plan would destroy the financially strapped city’s village atmosphere, and burden it with added expenses for law enforcement and fire protection.

“Today, we took one step in the right direction,” said resident Cookie Bucher, who was among six people who delivered a large white cardboard box full of signatures to the city clerk’s office.

“I don’t want to see Palm Springs turned into a big-time entertainment center,” she said.

Bill Gonzales, who also opposes the plan, sees a connection between higher property lease payments being levied by Agua Caliente tribal members against residents near the targeted land, and tribal hopes of transforming it into a vast entertainment complex.

Over the past two years, Gonzales said, his lease payments have skyrocketed from $35 a month to $350. Tribal leaders say they are only trying to bring the leases up to current market value. But Gonzales suggested that “the higher they raise our lease payments, the more they can ask for business leases on Section 14.”

“With this petition, we’re saying we want the city to grow responsibly, and for residents to have a voice in that growth,” he said. “Right now, the city is trying to appease one entity, the gambling entity.”

The tribe finds that kind of talk discouraging. Over the past 25 years, it has been working closely with city officials toward a mutual goal of revitalizing the local economy with large-scale developments, such as the $95-million casino it opened last November. The tribe also has a casino in Rancho Mirage.

The tribe recently eliminated all references that critics found alarming in its voluminous master plan. These included what the tribe called “visionary statements” regarding possible development of theme parks, golf practice ranges, 75-foot-tall observation towers and additional casinos.

But that wasn’t enough to calm residents who are nervous about the city’s lack of control over development on the reservation. This comes at a time when the Agua Caliente band has launched an initiative to increase payments to the state in return for the lifting of restrictions that limit each tribe to two casinos and 2,000 slot machines.

The sponsors of the referendum petition -- the Citizens for Local Government Accountability and the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union, which wants to organize local casino workers -- have been tapping into that discontent.

Palm Springs political consultant Hal Ball fears the situation could have harmful implications for the city’s future.

“If voters do not want the master plan for Section 14, I hope they understand the consequences,” he said. “It will send out an anti-growth message in a city that thrives on tourism. There will be a reduction of quality of life and services because they’ll be cutting off the revenue stream. People won’t want to move here. Property values will tumble. Palm Springs will be left behind.”

Tribal planner Thomas Davis warned that if voters decided to repeal the City Council’s approval of the plan, “our options would range from doing nothing” to bypassing Palm Springs government altogether and “processing Section 14 development plans through the tribal office.”

George Frandsen, a leader of the signature drive, said tribe members miss the point: Residents are miffed that city officials put the proposal on a fast track even though it could have a dramatic impact on property values and the city’s celebrated desert vistas.

“A lot of the people I talked to said they felt that the city had totally ignored them; that they weren’t given a voice,” Frandsen said.

“I’m not against growth, unless it means a lot of new low-income jobs, parking lots and casinos. We simply never received enough information to decide whether that would be the outcome in this case.”