"Measure 20-107 on the Nov. 8 ballot asks Florence voters to be good neighbors and provide sewer service to a 90-plus acre parcel known as the Hatch Tract, the site of the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians' Three Rivers Casino. Some would say that it is a simple pay-for-usage agreement that is no different from that given to any other developer.

Yet recognized Native American tribes are considered sovereign under a federal law and can zone and use their lands free from city, county or state zoning and land use regulations. This might play well if the lands in question were isolated and remote, but Hatch Tract is adjacent to residential neighborhoods and lies outside the area planned for Florence commercial development. Additionally, the tribes will have the ability to purchase lands adjacent to their current parcel, have those lands placed into trust, and escape the very same land use regulations and zoning issues."

Get the Story:
Brian Cole: Let's keep tribes' ambition in check (The Eugene Register-Guard 11/3)

Relevant Links:
Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians - http://www.ctclusi.org

Related Stories:
Land returned to Oregon tribes after 150 years (10/11)
Oregon tribes to acquire former national guard site (11/24)
BIA forgets to seek surplus property for tribe (7/25)