The income from the enterprise has enabled the tribe to upgrade roads, housing, and the water system, and to connect lines to the regional wastewater treatment system and offers employment opportunities to tribal members as well as the surrounding communities. This is not the case with the Pechanga property in Temecula, in fact, it has been the main source of tribal government funding for long-needed and previously unaffordable infrastructure on the reservation. Local residents raise issues of increased vehicular traffic, drugs, alcohol and crime. In many circumstances, a new casino/resort is not a welcomed neighbor. Recently opened is a 2400 space parking garage as well as 44 electric vehicle charging stations and 3-Tesla Superchargers.

The property will have an additional 568 rooms and suites, 70,000 square feet of indoor event space, a luxury, 2-story spa and salon, 4.5-acre resort pool complex, plus 2-new restaurants. The new construction which, when completed (with a $285 million investment), will be the largest casino/hotel/entertainment complex on the west coast.

It has been so successful that the Tribe decided to expand its operations. The Pechanga Indians built their first resort in 2002. It also established an independent federal regulatory authority for gaming on Indian lands, federal standards for gaming on Indian lands and a National Indian Gaming Commission.

The statute shields it from organized crime and other corrupting influences, and ensures that the Indian tribe is the primary beneficiary of its gaming operation and that gaming will be conducted fairly and honestly by the operator and players. It provides a statutory basis for the operation of gaming by Indian tribes as a means of promoting tribal economic development, self-sufficiency, and strong tribal governments. In 1988, Congress enacted IGRA (Indian Gaming Regulatory Act) a federal statue governing Indian gaming in the US. The Pechanga Indians took this treaty and turned it into a multi-billion-dollar opportunity, creating what is considered to be the best casino in Southern California, by the readers of the Orange County Register and the USA Today readers determined it was the best casino in the U.S (2015). The organization is committed to improving the environment, education status, health, safety and general welfare of its members and surrounding community.

Even though they were “here first,” they had to wait until 18820 to be officially recognized as a sovereign, land-based organization, by an Executive Order from the President of the USA. The Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians has inhabited the Temecula Valley, CA since the beginning of time.

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