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Cities worry about losing land as Seminoles buy property
By John Holland | South Florida Sun-Sentinel
December 17, 2007
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The Seminole Tribe owns 105 acres around its Broward County reservation and casinos, has plenty of cash to acquire more and awaits approval of a landmark deal with the state to add high-stakes card games and slot machines.
But the tribe's success is causing anxiety for some local governments, which worry the land will be taken off public rolls and converted into a federally protected trust — making it exempt from property taxes, local oversight and all building regulations.
"Around the country you're seeing tribes expand their trust land to the point where they rule and control towns completely," said Davie Vice Mayor Bryan Caletka.
He took notice of the tribe's reach last year, when the Seminoles bought the 11-acre Stirling Mobile Home Park and evicted 150 residents, and when it petitioned to take 44 acres in Coconut Creek into trust. Although the tribe has made no attempt to turn Stirling into trust land, Caletka and other city officials say they expect the Seminoles to do so.
"Right now we're a little concerned because we're not going to have any say in what's built on some of this land," Caletka said. "They've been a good neighbor, but we would hate to give up complete control."
Over the past decade, the tribe has spent more than $35 million acquiring property adjacent to its casinos in Coconut Creek and Hollywood. The 105 acres, which local officials estimate could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars if fully developed, belong to the Seminoles but are not considered part of their sprawling federal reservation. For now, the land is regulated and taxed just like any other in Broward County.
That could change.
Federal law allows Indian tribes to accumulate land and petition the Bureau of Indian Affairs to have it registered as federal trust, meaning it is deeded to the U.S. government and controlled entirely by a sovereign tribe. Local governments can object, but the bureau's process typically works in favor of helping tribes gain more land and autonomy, according to experts on land trust and bureau leaders.
The Seminoles have petitioned the Bureau of Indian Affairs to convert 44 acres in Coconut Creek to trust, and tribe spokesman Gary Bitner said they reserve the right to do the same with 60 acres near the State Road 7 corridor in Davie, Dania Beach and Hollywood.
Indian Affairs spokeswoman Nedra Darling said the tribe's application is under review but would not comment further.
Historically, the bureau's leadership, made up largely of Indians, has served as an ally of tribes while promoting Indian self-determination. The agency is also charged with helping preserve 56 million acres of Indian trust land, agency spokesman George Skibine said.
"As a general proposition, we are an advocate for helping tribes, but the secretary of the Interior is under no obligation to approve an application to take land into trust," Skibine said recently. "There are a lot of factors taken into consideration, but I would say, if the land is on the reservation or contiguous to a reservation, the process will favor the tribe."
Concerns over Seminole expansion grew last month when Gov. Charlie Crist signed an agreement allowing the tribe to offer Las Vegas-style gambling at its seven Florida casinos in exchange for at least $100 million per year from the Seminoles. The compact has not yet been approved by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and is being challenged in the Florida Supreme Court by state legislators who want the final say on ratifying any agreement.
If a compact eventually is adopted, the Seminoles acknowledge they can't build casinos on any new land they purchase and put into trust. But as a sovereign nation, the tribe has no restrictions on the way it develops or governs the 96,000 acres it already owns in trust statewide.
And the tribe is free to build large hotels, parking garages and other non-gambling attractions around current facilities if they are converted to trust lands.
That's what the Seminoles hope to do in Coconut Creek, where the tribe plans to build a 1,500-room luxury hotel and a 167,000-square-foot-casino on trust land that now houses a cramped casino lacking in luxuries the tribe wants for its new projects. The tribe owns only five acres in trust in Coconut Creek, forcing it to negotiate with the city for approval for a nine-story parking garage, more hotel rooms and other amenities to be built off the reservation.
The city has signed off on the tribe's plans, but doesn't want the land taken from its jurisdiction.
"Normally we wouldn't even consider allowing a garage like that, but obviously this is a different situation," said Coconut Creek City Manager John Kelly. The city has hired a Washington, D.C., attorney to fight the petition to put the land into trust. "We have an amicable relationship with the tribe, and I think we both understand the need to work together," Kelly said. "But of course we're worried. The traffic is going to be horrendous, we're going to need a much larger police presence, and there is going to be a lot of noise and light pollution."
Although the tribe has requested 44 acres be taken into trust, in June it promised Coconut Creek leaders it will lower the request to 24 acres, Kelly said. As of last week, the Seminoles were still seeking the full 44 acres, Skibine said.
The tribe pays Coconut Creek $1.6 million in annual fees for water, sewer and the other considerations, and the payments would jump to $2 million if the compact is ratified. The tribe has promised to continue the payments even if the land is converted to trust.
Hollywood has no such leverage, and the relationship has been more tense. The tribe owns 497 acres in trust on its Hollywood reservation and bought approximately 60 acres across the street from its Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on State Road 7, according to county property records.
The tribe has not filed an application to convert the 60 acres to trust land, according to Indian Affairs spokeswoman Darling.
Because most of that land is undeveloped, it's valued at about $15 million and brings Hollywood slightly more than $90,000 per year in property taxes. But city leaders say the area is a prime commercial corridor and they want to lure high-end retail shops and possibly office space.
The tribe attempted to build a 5,000-space parking garage across from the Hard Rock but Hollywood did not approve the project. Seminole spokesman Bitner would not say what the tribe plans to do with the land.
That unknown has Hollywood officials uneasy.
"We're very concerned about the tribe's plans, because they could impact that entire area," said Lorie Mertens-Black, director of Hollywood intergovernmental affairs. "Right now we're monitoring the situation, but there isn't a lot more we can do at this point."
Combined with the reservation land it already owns in Hollywood, the new holdings give the tribe a lock on much of the property along State Road 7 between Stirling and Griffin roads. City officials have instructed their Washington lobbyist to monitor the situation, anticipating a Seminole petition to the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
"If that land is taxed at its highest and best use, it would be worth hundreds of millions of dollars," city spokeswoman Raelin Storey said. "We're going to fight any attempt to annex that land. I promise you we're not going to go silently into the night."
John Holland can be reached at jholland@sun-sentinel .com or at 954-385-7909.
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