Dispute over Palm Springs commercial building continues

Efforts to halt businesses from being forced out of their building on Indian Canyon and Ramon have gone unheard, says Benjamin Sullivan,owner of KBC of Palm Springs.

The shops must vacate by May 31.

“Never in a million years did I think they would kick us out to the curb in this short time frame,” Sullivan said.

The building sits on Indian land owned by members of various tribes.

According to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), the lease on the land expired around the year 2000 and since then landowners granted a series of “revocable permits.” Those permits allowed people to temporarily manage the property and keep a cut of the profits.

Sullivan gave us a copy of a revocable permit contract for the land in question, which was supposed to expire in February 2016. But it also states it could be revoked at any time with just 30 days notice.

When the last permit holder, Donald Simpson, died last year the contract became void immediately, according to the BIA.

But Sullivan says that didn’t worry him, because he had been in talks with the landowners for months to lease the property himself. He planned to invest more money into the building, and build a hotel on the vacant lot next to it.

“They gave me a five-year lease for me to sign. I did, I notarized it and I sent it to the family members for review,” Sullivan said. “So I feel this is poor, poor business not to have a discussion but also to bait me into thinking I was going to get the building.”

The city of palm springs says it’s unaware of any plans for the land.

“A demolition permit would have to be applied for and subsequently anything proposed would have to go through a city review committee,” said Marcus Fuller, assistant city manager of Palm Springs.

Sullivan says he’s never had this kind of issue before with a landlord and it’s changed the way he’ll do business in the future.

“You have no protection, they can change their mind on a whim. They have so much more protection than the average American citizen because this is sovereign land,” Sullivan said. “I’ll never again do business on sovereign land.”

UPDATE:: One of the landowners has since contacted News Channel 3. He reiterated the stance that business owners knew the building was on a temporary lease, and that they invested at their own risk. He agreed to speak with a reporter on camera. Check back for updates on this story.