TEMECULA -- For four years, a bill sponsored by U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa that would add land to the Pechanga Indian Reservation has been stuck in Congress.

But just as the legislation that would transfer nearly 1,200 federally-owned acres to the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Mission Indians has moved out of the House and into Senate committees, a letter sent out last week by Temecula's city manager has landed like a cannonball.

"It is of paramount importance to the City that these areas be preserved only as open space with absolutely no development that would promote, in any way, resort operations," stated the letter written by Shawn Nelson and addressed to Issa.

He said that, without provisions allowing the Department of the Interior to monitor the land and enforce a reversion to federal ownership if the land were to be used for anything other than open space -- the city would not support the bill.

The latest version of the proposed land transfer, House Resolution 2963, sponsored by Issa, R-Vista, was introduced July 10 and passed by the House on July 30. The bill has since moved to the Senate and on May 15 a hearing on the bill was conducted by the Committee on Indian Affairs.

On Tuesday, both Issa's staff and representatives of the tribe said they were surprised by the two-page letter dated May 14.

Jacob Mejia, public affairs representative for the Pechanga, said the letter seems to be in direct opposition to previous actions by the City Council, which in December 2005 voted to back the legislation as it moved through Congress.

"We are puzzled as to why the city would flip-flop on positions it previously passed a resolution in support of, without any effort to engage the tribe in a substantial discussion," Mejia said. "We are wondering if politics is behind this sudden change in position."

Nelson said he doesn't see a reason for anyone to be upset over the letter. He said it is consistent with what the city has stated in the past.

"All we're saying is that we're supportive of annexation as long as it remains open space. If any development occurs, then that land should revert back to the federal government," Nelson said. "Now, if the tribe wants to preserve that property as open space, then they shouldn't have an issue with the letter."

Nelson's letter recommends that provisions be added to the bill giving citizens the right to sue the Department of the Interior to return the land to the federal government, if the land use provisions are violated by the Pechanga, which operates a casino and resort on its land south of Temecula.

In general, the allowable uses of the transferred land, under the bill, would be for the protection, preservation and maintenance of its archaeological, cultural and wildlife resources.

The Pechanga Band of Luiseno Mission Indians Land Transfer Act was originally introduced in 2004, when it was HR 4908. And though the bill number has changed -- because of different congressional sessions -- the language of the legislation has remained the same.

Dale Neugebauer, chief of staff for Issa, said Temecula had not previously expressed concerns about the legislation, and the extent of the issues raised in the letter were jarring.

"This legislation has been around for four years. It has been written about extensively by the media. And its goal is to transfer undevelopable, steep and surplus land from the (Bureau of Land Management) to the Pechanga," Neugebauer said. "Given that, it is surprising to hear concerns that are this extensive at this late of an hour."

He added, "With that being said we take the city's concerns seriously and I will be meeting with city officials next week and address the concerns that they have raised."

Neugebauer said the two main concerns raised by the city, the restrictions on the use of the transferred land and the prohibition on building roads on it, are addressed by provisions in the bill that will have the "force of law" behind them to ensure compliance.

Pechanga's recent construction of an 18-hole golf course expected to open this summer, in an area eyed by city officials as the possible pathway for a bypass road to Interstate 15, was done without notification to the city or county, Nelson said in his letter.

The letter cites the golf course development as a reason why further assurances need to be written into the bill to discourage further developments.

Issa's bill proposes to take three separate parcels out of the control of the Bureau of Land Management and add them to the existing 5,500 acres of the reservation. The Pechanga tribe has said the land has cultural and historical importance to its members. The bill would put the areas into the care of the tribe for conservation and preservation, according to Issa's staff.

The largest parcel is a 971-acre area just west of the existing reservation. The rugged land is covered with a dense mix of oak woodlands, chaparral and coastal sage scrub. The slopes throughout the parcel are steep and eroded.

A second 200-acre area that sits to the northeast of the reservation has also been identified as surplus land by the Bureau of Land Management. The last parcel the tribe would get is 20 acres in an isolated area just south of Sun City and contains burial sites of much significance to the tribe, its leaders say.

In November 2005, the tribe entered into a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Land Management that states the Pechanga would manage the lands for conservation purposes.

Contact staff writer Nicole Sack at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2616, or nsack@californian.com.