Santa Ysabel Casino
On April 11, 2007 a tiny Indian-owned and operated casino opened its doors with the intention of incorporating a resort into the complex. The casino had 349 slot machines and six gaming tables as well as live poker and live blackjack. It was located on SD Highway 79 near Lake Henshaw, Julian, and Warner Springs. Plans for constructing a resort were scrapped due to finding difficulties shortly after construction.
On April 20, 2011, a gamer from nearby Ramona, CA, won a penny jackpot of $1,036,253 - the first Gold Series progressive won in California. On July 2, 2012, the casino filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy following massive losses and unpaid fees. Total debts were believed to have exceeded $50,000,000 according to the Union Tribune - San Diego. On February 3, 2014 after a judge ruled the casino as ineligible to take bankruptcy as a federally recognized tribe, and Feb 3, 2014 the casino closed after eventually going out of business.
So, what’s the tribe to do…well maybe the answer is the one found in the UT article excerpted below: Medicinal Majijuana.
A small Indian tribe in a remote stretch of San Diego County has traded its failed dream of casino riches for what could be the next big payout — marijuana cultivation — according to an article by J. Harry Jones in the May 3 SD Union Tribune newspaper. The Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel closed its 35,000 square foot gaming hall in February 2014, buried under $50 million in debt. It has now transformed the vacant space into a high-tech medical marijuana operation, and it is leasing part of the property to growers who cultivate and distribute the drug to legal dispensaries throughout the state of California. More than a dozen greenhouses are in various stages of construction on the building’s sprawling parking lot, awaiting more tenants.
The tribe is the first in SD county to embrace the marijuana industry. This comes in the wake of a December 2014 memo by the US Justice Department that declared sovereign nations would not be prosecuted for growing pot on tribal land in states that had legalized the drug.
In 2007, when the Santa Ysabel Resort and Casino opened on a hillside off state Route 79 overlooking Lake Henshaw, the tribe envisioned building a hotel to serve the hordes of gamblers who would surely flock there. But it never happened because there were too many other casinos closer to San Diego and major highways. The 700 member tribe watched as its neighbors grew rich and their own prospects evaporated.
So, in early 2015 tribal leaders quietly jumped at the opportunity for a new revenue source. They created laws regulating marijuana on the reservation and established a regulatory commission to oversee the venture. For the past 18 months marijuana cultivated at the site has been shipped to legal dispensaries across the state, according the Dave Vialpando, head of the agency. The operation is still very small. Its two rooms house less than 1000 plants. But it will not be all cultivation. There will be processing rooms and trimming rooms and storage rooms. The testing lab is about to open and there is a possibility that other cannabis products such as lotions could be produced in the future.
Federal law prohibits the cultivation and distribution of marijuana, but current policy allows for pot to be grown on reservations as long as certain requirements are met according to the SD county Sheriff’s Department, which does not license, inspect, or regulate marijuana cultivation on tribal lands. The Iipay Nation is operating tribal law and authority. The DA’s office is aware of the grow operation at Santa Ysabel and has cautioned the tribe against breaking any state laws which might result in investigation and potential criminal charges. Vialpando, who worked as an officer of the CA Justice department before retiring in 2011 to head the tribe’s gaming operations and now its cannabis ones says he is confident everything is being done by the book.
Security is a priority. To get to the former casino requires a long drive up a paved road that is blocked by a security gate and an armed guard.
California voters approved Proposition 64 in November, legalizing the recreational use and cultivation of pot. The tribe’s laws only allow the cultivation of medicinal marijuana. They have no plans to expand those rules to include recreational marijuana. No other local tribe in currently involved in the pot business. The tribe has its eyes on Washington, and the new administration, but is moving forward with its plans. Let’s see what happens in the months to come.
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