IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
Palm Springs has approved a $5.9 million settlement with African-American and Latino families whose homes were leveled by the city during the 1950s and 1960s.
The city council’s unanimous decision Nov. 14 compensates families who lived on land known as Section 14, which was owned by the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians in downtown Palm Springs, according to multiple reports.
That compensation is based on 197 houses that were not destroyed, all of which had an average value of $30,000 per home. Former residents of Section 14, and descendants of former residents, will be eligible to receive funds.
A standing-room only crowd leaped and burst into cheers when the decision was reached. The agreement ends years of often difficult and complex negotiations between the city and the claimants.
The Agua Caliente tribe was unable to develop the one-square-mile of land because of federal law, and because the site did not have proper infrastructure. Black and Latino families that leased property there eventually grew into a unified community, but many of their homes were removed
