SAN JACINTO --They are glad a San Jacinto City Council tribal subcommittee is willing to listen to their concerns about the proposed Soboba hotel-casino project, but some Soboba Springs residents say it's premature to assume the location is a done deal.

The tribal subcommittee, made up of Mayor Scott Miller and Andrew Kotyuk, met last week. Rosemary Morillo and Rose Salgado, two Soboba Band of Luiseño Indian tribal council members, sat next to the councilmen and residents of the affected neighborhood sat in the audience.

Civic leaders can protect the community "obviously through mitigation" of development impacts and by working together, said Kotyuk, who called the development "an economic driver for the community."

The proposed 729,500-square-foot complex would include a 300-room hotel.
Since August 2009, tribal consultants have been working to finalize an environmental impact. Beginning this month, the application package will be reviewed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the tribal representatives told the councilmen. One more public hearing will be scheduled at a later date.

"I want the tribe to prosper, I want the residents to prosper," said Miller, but the city also needs to look at "how it is going to impact residents' lives" and how impacts can be mitigated.

Members of the Save Our Communities group earlier this year gave the council binders detailing their concerns.

Soboba Springs resident Patty Mayne said the council should seek more input from the public before finalizing a city position. "They should not be making any decisions or doing any mitigations with the tribe" before environment review is finished, she said.

"It's our intent to say we can work this out," said group member Tish Arciniega, by moving development to another reservation location. "Putting the project where it's currently proposed ... is going to be a hardship for a lot of people"
The tribe wants to annex land it owns along Soboba Road near Lake Park Drive to the reservation and replace an existing casino with the new resort.
If the site becomes part of the reservation, residents of three Soboba Springs neighborhoods would have to travel through the reservation to get to their homes.

Reach Gail Wesson at 951-763-3455 or gwesson@PE.com