Frustrated in efforts to build on his property above Highway 101 and the Pajaro River, the owner of the 6,500-acre Sargent Ranch is seeking to duck local zoning restrictions by turning more than half of it into Indian lands, clearing the way for potentially massive residential and commercial development. The move may get the help of U.S. Rep. Mike Honda, D-Campbell, who as a county supervisor 12 years ago blocked a huge development on the same property
Tribe seeks to build in area south of Gilroy
DEAL WOULD LIFT ZONING LIMITS
By Barry Witt
Mercury News
Frustrated in efforts to build on his property above Highway 101 and the Pajaro River, the owner of the 6,500-acre Sargent Ranch is seeking to duck local zoning restrictions by turning more than half of it into Indian lands, clearing the way for potentially massive residential and commercial development.
The move may get the help of U.S. Rep. Mike Honda, D-Campbell, who as a county supervisor 12 years ago blocked a huge development on the same property.
Wayne Pierce, the Pleasant Hill-based managing member of Sargent Ranch, is paying for lawyers and lobbyists to help the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band's bid to become Santa Clara County's first federally recognized Indian tribe. If they succeed and the government takes the land into trust on the tribe's behalf, the property no longer would be subject to local zoning rules -- which allow for only four homes to be built every three years on the hilly terrain far outside any city limits.
Pierce and the tribe have reached a deal under which the tribe would operate on a 500-acre portion of the ranch in Santa Cruz County, building homes for its 424 members as well as a cultural facility and a retail and entertainment center of unspecified size. Another 3,000 acres in Santa Clara County would be taken into trust and leased back to Pierce for development of a senior-citizen complex, also of unspecified size, according to a tribal representative.
The land was its ancestral home, the tribe says, although its ancestors were spread throughout the area near what became San Juan Bautista before the mission era.
No casino, tribe says
The tribe says it would not build a casino, offering a new twist on the raging statewide debate over Indian rights. In many regions -- including adjacent San Benito County -- local officials are grappling with Indian attempts to exercise their right to operate casinos. In this case, the Indians would use their unique status to escape local development controls.
Pierce in 2001 asked the county to allow him to build 137 homes and two golf courses but later withdrew the plan, facing certain rejection. He tried again in late 2002, and again dropped it.
Pierce did not return calls for comment, but in a brief e-mail said the partnership that owns the ranch, ``supports and encourages the federal acknowledgment of'' the tribe, which he called ``a deserved and fair step in recognizing the struggle of their people.'' It's unknown how much money Pierce has spent on the tribe's behalf to date, but he has agreed to give the tribe $1 million on Oct. 1 to continue advancing its efforts.
In recent months, Amah Mutsun leaders and their lobbyists have been meeting with congressional representatives in hopes of speeding up the federal recognition process. The tribe's application is deemed ready for consideration by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, but no action is expected for years.
As an alternative, the tribe can avoid the administrative process and win immediate recognition through an act of Congress, something Honda, whose district includes the ranch, said he's interested in pursuing.
``It's the right and fair thing to do,'' said Honda, who met last month with former Democratic congressman Vic Fazio, one of the tribe's lobbyists, and the tribe's chairwoman, Irene Zwierlein.
As a Santa Clara County supervisor representing the region in 1992, Honda blocked a massive development proposal on Sargent Ranch, which is south of Gilroy. Honda said he's aware that the tribe has a deal with Sargent Ranch's owners, but he said he was keeping the issues separate.
``If I do this, I would do it to help them get federally recognized, period,'' he said.
But it's exactly that step the tribe needs to put its plan into action.
``If he's trying to deny the two actions are linked, he's denying reality,'' said Craig Breon, executive director of Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society.
In an attempt to control sprawl, Santa Clara County development policies require significant urban development to occur within city limits. If Sargent Ranch were to develop, said county planning director Ann Draper, ``that starts a trend toward just one swath of development from Monterey Bay to San Francisco Bay.''
The tribe and its lobbyists also have met with Democratic Reps. Zoe Lofgren and Sam Farr, whose districts border the ranch, and the staffs of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat, and Rep. Richard Pombo, a Republican. Pombo is chairman of the House Resources Committee, which has jurisdiction over Indian issues. His committee staff met in late July with Zwierlein and lobbyist Christopher D'Arcy, who until last year had spent 10 years on Pombo's staff.
A resources committee spokesman said Pombo is trying to find a way of speeding up the recognition process through the Bureau of Indian Affairs for all tribes, but he opposes granting tribal status through legislative action. Feinstein spokesman Howard Gantman said, ``At this time, the senator does not see the need for legislation.''
Internal divisions
The tribe itself is riven by factionalism, with one segment claiming Zwierlein has wrongfully taken control and excluded the former leadership, and Zwierlein claiming the former leaders chose four years ago to splinter off. Zwierlein, 59, of Woodside, won approval in July of a new tribal constitution that appoints her chairwoman for life. She said splinter members that can meet the tribe's eligibility requirements would be welcomed back in.
To be eligible, the constitution states members ``must be able to trace his or her ancestry to Mission San Juan Bautista via baptism prior to and through 1840.'' Valentin Lopez, 52, of Sacramento, who claims he's the rightful chairman of the tribe, said the new language doesn't even require that a member be an Indian and it excludes legitimate Amah Mutsuns who fell under the jurisdiction of Mission Santa Cruz.
``Since I became chairman, I've made three efforts to try to reunify the tribe, but they don't want to deal with us because they have their own personal interest that does not include the Amah Mutsuns,'' Lopez said.
Lopez said he, too, wants the tribe recognized by the government but has no interest in the Sargent Ranch plan. He did not rule out the possibility of some day operating a casino if the tribe succeeds.
The one point on which both factions agree is that a casino recently proposed for Highway 25 by the five-member, Stockton-based Central Valley Miwok Band should not be allowed in what they consider to be their territory.
Contact Barry Witt at bwitt@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-5703.
