The proposed Casino in Calexico still has a long way to go before its approval and steps are currently being taken to have this project approved.

The City and Calexico and the Manzanita Tribe have been working to have a casino in Calexico that will host a resort hotel and convention center. The City and the Manzanita Tribe entered into a “fee-to-trust” request for 60 acres of land to develop an off-reservation casino in Calexico. The proposal was initially a joint effort between the Manzanita and Viejas Bands of Kumeyaay Indians.

The City of Calexico and the developer, Hallwood Calexico Investments LLC, came to an agreement  in November 2008 for the development of  a Commercial Highway land uses, including a Class III Tribal Gaming Casino Facility and Hotel Facility within an approximately 232 acre project site in the City of Calexico.

The plan of this project is to develop 459,261 square foot Class III gaming casino facility, including a 93, 880 square foot casino gaming area, 400 hotel rooms, 411,000 square feet of retail space, 110,000 square feet of restaurant space, 395,000 square feet of office space, 340,000 square feet of tech space, and a 20,800 square foot police/fire station in five phases of development over a period of eleven years.

The City and the tribe entered into and MOU that would make the Manzanita give the City annual revenue-sharing payment to the city’s General Fund in the amount of $2,000,000 as compensations for impacts such as to Imperial County or the school districts; hire Calexico residents as casino employees to the greatest extent possible; and establish a community based foundation to underwrite projects, programs and activities that benefit residents among other agreements.

City Manager Victor Carrillo gave a written report to the Calexico City Council last Tuesday about the status of the casino. The City Manager informed that continued meetings and phone conversations with the tribe to discuss the status of the Casino application with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the U.S. Department of the Interior. Carrillo said that the main discussion points of the project have been on the timeline for reports and studies to be completed; resolution of the Environmental Impact Report; and the consultation letter approved and signed with the Governor of California’s concurrence.

The tribe received notice by the BIA that the public comment period and will be 75 days long for the Environmental Impact Statement. Carrillo informed that Calexico finalized a lot line adjustment to record a 60 acre parcel that Hallwood development will sell the Manzanita Tribe.

Once recorded via the tax certificate, Carrillo said, there will be a new property description for the Manzanita Tribe to describe to the Bureau of Indian Affairs. When this is done, the Manzanita tribe as per application, will have this parcel placed in record of the BIA application and if approved will become Indian Reservation or Federal and as if follows the Environmental process and flows from Washington D.C., to Sacramento, to Manzanita, and back to the BIA process in Sacramento, getting a Final National Publishing in the Federal Register, a process that should take three to six months, Carrillo said.

The City of Calexico also had to deal with a lawsuit that delayed the project for two years. A settlement was made on January of 2010 but the dismissal of the lawsuit would not occur until a General Plan Amendment and zoning change are approved by the planning commission and confirmed by the City Council. When the lawsuit is dismissed it will allow the Bureau of Indian Affairs to hold hearings regarding the Environmental Impact Statement which will result of transferring City land to Federal land designation for purposes of establishing an Indian Reservation/Casino.