Stilo and the Tusayan Town Council are making another attempt to facilitate a massive development project. The town and the Italian based developer have sent a new road easement proposal to the Forest Service in order for Stilo to develop its Kotzin and 10X properties. The previous application was “returned” in 2016 because it failed to meet Forest Service requirements. More than 200,000 people also sent messages in opposition.

Here is a link to an article we did in 2016. http://www.grandcanyonwatchdog.com/local/index.php?id=676

In response to the public outcry Stilo agreed to scale back the commercial square footage to around 1.43 million at Kotzin and about 360,000 square feet at 10X. Hundreds of homes would still be built. The town is also claiming no groundwater would be used for commercial properties but there is no such promise for residential. And there are no clear explanations as to how this would be enforced. For a copy of the application click here.

In a news release Tusayan Mayor Craig Sanderson said. “This proposal represents an opportunity for stakeholders to work together and get it right.”

The Sierra Club is very skeptical. It issued the following statement, “Stilo is being squirrelly once again. They're proposing to build 1.8 million square feet of commercial development and claiming they won't use groundwater for that - but they are not disclosing how many residential units they will build, nor where the water for those residential units will come from. This is not for the good of the American public or citizens of the Grand Canyon region; this only benefits Stilo's bankroll.”

This application comes almost a year after some members of the Town Council were caught making controversial remarks about development opponents and public records when a live streaming microphone was mistakenly left on after a July 2018 council meeting. Among the comments broadcast and caught on tape were comments from Stilo representative Tom DePaolo discussing a harassment claim against Forest Service Supervisor Heather Provencio. Here is a link to the article.

 http://www.grandcanyonwatchdog.com/local/index.php?id=1211

On the tape DePaolo is heard saying, “Then there’s always the fallback we start rumors of harassment and get her thrown out.” That statement can be heard here (click link) at about 19:54 into the tape. DePaolo has since apologized for the remarks.

The new application was sent to Provencio September 5^th.

Meanwhile, the promise of affordable housing remains on hold as the town recently voted to demobilize the 10X “affordable housing” project following massive cost overruns and a failure to follow county flood control rules.