A Northern California congressman has introduced a bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to take the 1,400-acre “Camp 4” property in the Santa Ynez Valley into trust for the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians. While seeking to add the agricultural land at the northeast corner of highways 154 and 246 and Armour Ranch Road to the reservation as sovereign land rather than private property through the federal fee-to-trust process, the tribe has also sought acquisition through legislation in Congress.
If made part of the reservation, the land would become exempt from local and state taxes and local planning and zoning laws.
Purchased in April 2010 from Fess Parker Enterprises, the Camp 4 property, which is the size of Solvang, would be subdivided to solve a housing shortage on the reservation with the construction of 143 single-family homes on part of it.