Members of the Tucson City Council signed off on a preliminary agreement for a proposed hotel and casino on land owned by the Pascua Yaqui tribe on Tuesday afternoon.
The 14.38-acre development, which would be located atop an old movie theater near the intersection of Grant Road and Interstate 10, would allow the tribe to build a hotel and casino on the site.
The tribe has owned the parcel since the theater closed in 2011, and has long sought to build on the property, which is located within the traditional Yaqui neighborhood of Old Pascua Village.
The tribe and the city have struck an Intergovernmental Agreement, which includes a set of stipulations for both parties, including for which city services the property would be eligible, and how the property would receive groundwater, should the development not be in compliance with city statues.
Pascua Yaqui Chairman Robert Valencia, in a prepared statement to the council, called the tribe’s Intergovernmental Agreement, which designates the land into a trust with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, as being mutually beneficial to both parties.
“This agreement will provide a structure for the City and the Tribe to operate under if the federal government takes approximately 15 acres into trust [sic] for the Pascua Yaqui Tribe,” the statement reads. “…Because these lands are located in Tucson, we think it is important that the City and the Tribe agree on how services and economic development will be handled if the lands are taken into trust. This Intergovernmental Agreement does just that—it lays out the roles and responsibilities of the City and the Tribe and establishes an Oversite Group that can help resolve areas of concern if they develop.”
In a statement, Tucson Ward 3 City Councilmember Paul Durham, whose district includes the area of the proposed development, said the two sides are far from a conclusion on the subject.
“The Pascua Yaqui Tribal Council and Chairman Valencia have not yet decided how to develop the land once it’s put into trust with the Bureau of Indian Affairs,” Durham said. “That process alone may take years or even a decade. One, the land is in a trust, it will be up to the Tribal Council to decide how to develop the land. The land is currently significantly underutilized considering its prime location and I look forward to working with the Tribe in the future on this property.”
Durham pointed out that item 9 in the IGA includes stipulations on future discussions for gaming on the trust land, which include a 90-day alert to the adoption of a Tribal Resolution that green-lights any regulations or requirements needed to conduct gaming on the site, as a window into how the process might move forward.
In addition to the 90-day window, tribal leadership would have to notify the city one calendar year prior to opening a casino on the site, so the two sides can reach an agreement on how the tribe will pay the city proceeds from gaming sales, according to the document.
This article appears in Jul 4-10, 2019.
“”This agreement will provide a structure for the City and the Tribe to operate under if the federal government takes approximately 15 acres into trust [sic] for the Pascua Yaqui Tribe,” the statement reads. “…Because these lands are located in Tucson, we think it is important that the City and the Tribe agree on how services and economic development will be handled if the lands are taken into trust. This Intergovernmental Agreement does just thatit lays out the roles and responsibilities of the City and the Tribe and establishes an Oversite Group that can help resolve areas of concern if they develop.”
Grant and I-10??? I only wish ANY politician worked this hard to open an locally owned business in Pima County.
No the impact to neighborhoods traffic the Indians that live in the tribal designated neighborhood can sell the tribal land for profit? Licencing Tucson police as special tribal police for just these few square blocks is BS. Autonomous means exactually that, not a blending of governmental agencies when the Tribes wont allow audits of books or list investors. The paltry sum of 2% across the board wont even cover the cost of the road and traffic impact. Not to mention gentrification of the surrounding neighborhoods prostitution drugs robberies. If they run homeless alcoholics out of the Casino where do they flush to. I am against it but like the mobster Mayer Lansky is quoted ” Gambling Drugs Prostitution soon the government will get into it all the profit is to high” and now in Tucson it is all legal ya just need to pay to play