Traffic, noise, public safety and loss of tax revenue topped the list of concerns speakers had Wednesday about a proposal to add almost 535 acres to the Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians reservation for development of a hotel-casino complex.

More than 200 people attended the hearing conducted by the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs at the Hemet Public Library.

Numerous speakers during the nearly four-hour meeting called the proposed commercial development of about 35 acres inappropriate next to three established neighborhoods with more than 700 residents living in mobile homes and houses mostly in the city of San Jacinto.

They also referred to lingering questions of public safety tied to a half dozen murders on the reservation since the project review started more than a year ago, and sometimes fractured tribal relations with law enforcement.

The tribe wants to annex land it owns along Soboba Road near Lake Park Drive adjacent to San Jacinto into federal "fee to trust" status, adding it to the existing reservation. In trust, the land is held by the U.S. government on behalf of the tribe, while the tribe controls the land's use.

"What senior citizen in his right mind would purchase a home across from a Las Vegas casino?" asked Hal Retzlaff, a resident of the Soboba Springs Mobile Estates senior community.

Retzlaff and some other speakers said if the tribe wants to develop more commercial uses, it should do so on existing reservation land.

A few speakers welcomed the development.

"Part of the reason I support it is because of the jobs it will bring to this community," said Lois Duran, another Soboba Springs mobile park resident.

"I think they should be allowed to improve their situation," said Ramon Fonseca of Hemet. He noted the tribe's contributions to charities and schools.

Compatibility issue

But San Jacinto Mayor Dale Stubblefield said the proposed hotel-casino complex "is not compatible with surrounding land uses." He added that the city would work with the tribe on mitigation if the complex was proposed on existing reservation land. He said annexation would create islands of non-Indian land surrounded by reservation, an "unprecedented" move.

If the proposal was under Riverside County review, "it's likely this project would be denied because there are insufficient buffers between land uses," said Verne Lauritzen, chief of staff for county 3rd District Supervisor Jeff Stone. He noted existing homes would be a "stone's throw" from a casino.

Public safety

Stubblefield and other speakers brought up the public safety issue. The draft report suggests the development would not increase crime.

"To say this casino will not result in an increase in crime simply defies reason," he said.

Resident Vinay Rao labeled traffic studies and mitigation plans as "amateurish at best and disingenuous." He recounted a three-mile backup for one concert at the existing venue. Based on previous traffic studies, Rao suggested the projected 22,500 trips a day underestimated the potential traffic.

Written comments are due to the bureau's regional office in Sacramento by Sept. 15. Larry Echo Hawk, the U.S. Department of the Interior's Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs, will make the final decision about the land acquisition..