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JAMUL-DULZURA PLANNERS RAISE OBJECTIONS TO JAMUL HOTEL AND EVENT CENTER

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 * December 2022 Articles

 * Jamul
 * Jamul Casino
 * Jamul Casino Hotel
 * Jamul-Dulzura Community Planning Group

By Miriam Raftery

December 5, 2022 (Jamul) – The Jamul Dulzura Community Planning Group (JDCPG)
held two public hearings on the Jamul Casino Hotel and Event Center project
planned by Jamul Indian Village (JIV). On November 19, the planning group chair
Preston Brown sent a letter to JIV Chairwoman Erica Pinto stating that the
tribal environmental impact report (TEIR) was “extraordinarily incomplete and
premature for a project of this magnitude.” The planning group recommended the
No Project Alternative.

The hotel would be 16 stories with floor-to-ceiling glass; the project would
also include an indoor-outdoor event center and additional parking, but no new
gaming.

ECM reached out to Chairwoman Pinto to request an interview. She initially
agreed, but cancelled due to a trip to Washington D.C. to meet with Department
of the Interior Secretary Deb Haaland on other matters.  ECM sent written
questions and requested a new interview date, but no response has yet been
received. The Jamul Casino employees approximately 1,000 people and has provided
economic security for the Jamul Indian Village of California's tribal members,
many of whom lived in poverty in the past. The new project, if built, would
significantly expand employment opportunities in the area as well as economic
growth for the tribe.

County planner Scott Christman has said the project does not need approval of
county Supervisors or the Governor, and the tribe has previously indicated it
hoped to begin construction this month. However the the JDCPG contends that
since the casino was built based on certain conditions and legal requirements
being met, some of which have not been completed, the project thus does need
approval/cooperation/participation of both Supervisors and the Governor.



Specifically, the JDCPG raised several objections:

ENVIRONMENTAL

The TEIR states that there is no way to mitigate aesthetics and environmental
impacts. The report focused on a limited geographical area near the casino but
gave only “scant mention” near the end of the report to the adjacent Rancho
Jamul Ecological Reserve and the Hollenbeck Canyon Wildlife Area nearby, which
are managed by the Wildlife Conservation Board of California. The JDCPG voiced
concern over impacts on wildlife from lights and noise.

NOISE

The JDCPG questioned findings of the TEIR on acoustics, which focused on nearby
homes at ground level, not hillside residents or how sound travels across all
areas of the valley. Planners also raised concern over potential drops in
property values.

TRAFFIC

Planners found the traffic analysis flawed noting that traffic has frequently
been bumper t bumper since the casino was built in 2016. “This is not only
inconvenient, but dangerous,” their letter states, citing fire evacuation
concerns.

Significantly, the JDCPG notes that when the casino was approved, the County and
Cal Trans required certain roadway improvements to be made, however many of
those have not been completed. Planners argue that those changes to State Route
94 should have to be finished before any new project is considered or built.

They also object to the tribe’s rationale for trying to exempt the project from
the state’s new Vehicle Miles Traveled requirements. In addition, planners took
issue with the tribe’s assertion that the project will generate “no extra
traffic”, noting this is a “strange assumption” to make given that the project
calls for a 6-story parking garage that would handle substantially more vehicles
than current parking accommodates.

WILDFIRE EVACUATION

The TEIR is lacking a Wildland Emergency Evacuation Plan (WEEP) required under
the California Environmental Quality Act despite the casino’s location in a very
high fire hazard severity zone. The TEIR assumes casino patrons will shelter in
place (as has occurred at other area casinos when fires occurred), but planners
fear some patrons would seek to race home to families, creating traffic
congestion and potential “panic.”

Planners note that the Lilac Hills Ranch housing development for 1,700 homes was
rejected due to lack of adequate wildfire evacuation routes.

CRIME

If the project is built, the planners ask the casino to commit resources to law
enforcement to address any added crime. A retired U.S. Customs Service worker
who spoke during a hearing voiced concern over the prospect of a hotel near the
border perhaps becoming an inadvertent haven for human traffickers or
prostitution, as well as drugs.

 



 

 



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