Chumash withdraw land plans; won’t affect Camp 4
The Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians have withdrawn a land plan that the tribe’s opponents feared would make it easier for the tribe to add land into its reservation.
The tribe has withdrawn its so-called Tribal Consolidation and Acquisition plan, which outlines more than 11,000 acres outside the tribe’s current reservation to which it had historical ties. Sam Cohen, a legal adviser to the tribe, said it would not have much affect on the tribe’s plans to bring the so-called Camp Four property onto its reservation.
“I don’t think it has any affect on the application because it really was just an indication of tribal relationships to the land,” Cohen said. “We withdrew it because of concerns, real or imagined, of our neighbors.”
The 1,400-acre property at Camp Four is a prominent site at the intersection of highways 154 and 246 in the Santa Ynez Valley in Santa Barbara County. The tribe has applied to bring the land into its reservation to build homes, a move that county officials said would circumnavigate county planning rules and take the land off property tax rolls.
