Commercial signs, banners, holiday lighting; those are just a few of the very long list of items that need to be addressed in Tusayan’s Planning and Zoning Ordinance. The rules have been under construction for moths and after several public hearings, the Town is in the home stretch.

At its November 7^th meeting, the Town Council reviewed the ordinance.  Councilman Bill Fitzgerald wanted to limit campers to 30 days. Mayor Greg Bryan wants to increase funds for commercial and industrial violations to as much as $10,500. Councilman Craig Sanderson wanted more specific definitions for apartments and multi-family housing.

The council also decided to hire Willdan Engineering to develop a General Plan. The council insists the fee of $73,000 is a bargain given the fact the engineer Richard Turner will be doing most of the work. Turner has been working with Tusayan since incorporation and is considered to be an impartial go-to guy when it comes to land use plans for Tusayan. The Council and the Town Manager believe hiring another firm might be more expensive given the time it would take to bring a new firm up to speed.

The process of forming the general plan won’t start until January. That’s when the council hopes to have a permanent Town Manager in place. Tami Ryall has been serving in that capacity on a temporary basis since the departure of Enrique Ochoa.

The council also heard from the Tusayan Sanitary District Chairman Pete Shearer on plans to deal with flooding. The Forest Service is seeking a $50,000 grant to study the problem and come up with ways to make sure runoff from Forest Service land won’t impact the Town.  That would include better retention basins, drainage ditches and storm drains.