CALEXICO — A general plan amendment and zone change that advances a proposed casino project over one of many hurdles was approved by the Calexico Planning Commission this week.
The commission approved the general plan amendment from commercial highway to high residential usage and a zone change from commercial highway to residential apartment on 33.09 acres of land at the corner of Scaroni Road and Robinson Avenue.

The ordinance was approved to meet the requirements of a settlement between the city of Calexico and Citizens for Honest Integrity, Assistant City Manager Armando Villa said. If City Council approves the ordinance the city will have met its requirements to give the Manzanita band of Kumeyaay Indians the necessary entitlements to operate the casino.

“The casino developer can then get the green light for the casino process,” Villa said.

The Manzanita tribe can then continue with its process to get federal permission from the Bureau of Indian Affairs to construct the off-reservation casino. First, the ordinance must go through two City Council readings, which Carrillo said were Oct. 19 and Nov. 2. If everything proceeds as planned the ordinance would be effective Dec. 2.

The settlement requirements include the development agreement approved in August with property owner Raul Estrada to change the property’s zone so it can be developed as residential over the next 15 years, Villa said. The agreement also required the zoning change, which Villa said was likely because of a concern about housing.

The California Department of Housing and Community Development said in 2009 Calexico had not adequately planned for residential growth and needed to add 2,500 housing units to meet state growth projections. In 2009 John McClendon, a lawyer who represents Estrada, said the re-zoning necessary for the project would deprive the city of 1,000 housing units.

Villa said the city had already started working with the casino developer when it found out about the housing unit projection shortage.

“We were midway through the process when we found out we were too short but were going ahead with the casino so we said we would find land elsewhere in the city to change to residential,” he said.

This amendment, he said, would help the city apply the housing element the city adopted in 2009 and create more multifamily units.

Villa said a negative environmental impact declaration was prepared for the commission’s review and the next step is to get City Council approval.

The city of Calexico has long supported the casino project because of its expected financial benefits for the city. It has now been seven years since discussions started concerning the casino, Carrillo said.

“This has been frustrating for many, painstakingly slow, but we have to be patient,” he said.

>> Staff Writer Sarah Horne can be reached at shorne@ivpressonline.com or 760-337-3435.

TIMELINE of some of the casino’s milestones:

2003 - Discussions started between the city of Calexico and the Manzanita Band of Kumeyaay Indians

September and October 2008 - Casino’s Environmental Impact Report released by city and discussed by City Council

February 2009 - Planning Commission approves the project’s plan