10 Key Unresolved Questions to Ask About the Santa Barbara County/Chumash Agreement
- What happens after 2040? The Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) expires in 2040. What happens then? Is the Tribe then allowed to do anything it wants on Camp 4, including building a massive amount of commercial development as it proposed in March 2016 and another Casino?
- What guarantees do residents have that open space and ag land will be protected? The agreement references the land uses spelled out in Alternative B of the Environmental Assessment (EA) and notes that land will be preserved as open space and ag use. Once the land is in trust, as indicated in the agreement, then under tribal sovereignty anything can be changed even before 2040.
- What happens if federal legislation is not enacted? The agreement assumes that H.R. 1491 will be amended to incorporate the terms of the agreement. What happens if H.R. 1491 is neither appropriately amended or is not enacted? Is the agreement moot or subject to change by a future County Board of Supervisors and Tribal Council?