NORTH BEND - The U.S. House of Representatives brought the Coquille Economic Development Corp. one step closer toward creating a retail development, Monday, when it approved a bill to allow the project to advance.

H.R. 2863 creates an exception in the 200-year-old Indian Nonintercourse Act, which will allow CEDCO, the business arm of the Coquille Indian Tribe, to lease land to Home Depot, the keystone of the Ko Kwel Wharf Project. The 50.5-acre mixed-retail and entertainment development will be located north of The Mill Casino-Hotel on the North Bend waterfront.

In a press release from Rep. Peter DeFazio's office, DeFazio, D-Ore., who introduced H.R. 2863 on June 26, said the bill passed the House unanimously.

“I am very pleased that I could help North Bend obtain the clearance it needed to turn an industrial eyesore into a productive economic engine for the community,” DeFazio wrote. “This is a win-win for everyone involved.”

Originally signed into law by President George Washington in 1790, the Indian Nonintercourse Act prevents tribes from selling or leasing land except through a treaty with the federal government as a party. Although it was designed to protect tribes, it has become problematic for modern-day tribal organizations in the nation, such as CEDCO, that want to lease nonreservation land.

“The total projected investment for this waterfront revitalization project will exceed $50 million and will bring much-needed jobs and economic development to the South Coast,” DeFazio said in the release. “All that stands in the way of this infusion of revenue is the Nonintercourse Act.”

While CEDCO representatives have said they don't believe the old law will have a great impact on a lease with Home Depot, officials from the warehouse store chain want to make sure the lease will be legal and �-percent iron clad,” said Brian Cannard, the real estate manager for Home Depot's Northwest Division.

“We think it's a good start. The bill also has to be passed by the Senate so we're hopeful that will happen and we'll be off to the races,” Cannard said.

“In order to give us a level of comfort that the lease is an enforceable lease, we needed to have that assurance from Congress that it looks like we'll be getting.”

He said he believes the measure will pass because it is a noncontroversial issue. A similar bill, Senate Bill 1286, was introduced to the U.S. Senate by Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., on May 3.

“It's on schedule. It's kind of progressing along at a pace that we had hoped it would. We're just pleased and hopeful that it will pass the Senate in a reasonable length of time,” Cannard said.

On Monday afternoon, Ray Doering, a spokesman for CEDCO, said he is pleased and appreciative of DeFazio's efforts to move the bill along quickly.

“It's great. We all did a little yippee this morning,” Doering said.