Students arrive at Valley Center Middle School on a recent morning. The school district is opposing plans by the San Pasqual tribe to build a gas station, restaurant and commercial buildings on an adjoining parking lot.

The San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians is proposing to take a 9-acre parcel that abuts Valley Center Middle School and formally fold the land into its reservation, a move that has drawn opposition from the Valley Center-Pauma Unified School District, the county and others.

According to an environmental report issued by San Pasqual, the tribe wants to build a gas station, a restaurant and a commercial building on the eastern half of the property at the corner of Valley Center and Lake Wohlford roads.
Superintendent Lou Obermeyer said she was worried about her students' safety because of increased traffic and the possibility that alcohol and tobacco products could be sold at a proposed convenience store on the property.

"Should it have a minimart selling tobacco or alcohol? That raises real concerns for us," Obermeyer said.

The tribe declined to comment on the project.
In its report, the tribe said it would adopt an ordinance prohibiting public drinking, loitering and alcohol sales to people under 21. The federal Drinking Age Act of 1984, which set the drinking age at 21, does not apply to Indian reservations. However, most tribes have their own laws setting the drinking age at 21.

San Pasqual owns the parcel. It uses the land as overflow parking for its Valley View Casino, located about a half-mile away on Lake Wohlford Road.
Last year, the tribe asked the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs for permission to take the land into federal trust, which means the land would become part of the reservation. The tribe would no longer have to pay property taxes on the land and county land-use regulations would no longer apply to the property.

In January, the federal government gave preliminary approval to the transfer, but the school district appealed the decision.

"We feel strongly that the proposed development, adjacent to the middle school campus, increases safety risks for our students and we are disappointed that the U.S. Department of Interior approved (the transfer) without mitigation measures for the school district's concerns," Obermyer wrote in a letter to the tribe.
Officials with the Bureau of Indian Affairs could not be reached for comment about the status of the appeal.

The county and the Valley Center Community Planning Group also opposed the transfer, often referred as a "fee-to-trust" change. The county cited various concerns about the project, including insufficient traffic, ground water and hazardous materials analysis.

In November 2000, the Board of Supervisors adopted a policy of opposing fee-to-trust transfers for the purpose of building casinos.
The tribe said in its environmental assessment report that it did not plan to provide gambling on the 9-acre site.

Call staff writer Edward Sifuentes at 760-740-3511.