By Mike Scerbo

Italian Developer Stilo is asking the Tusayan Town Council for more time to meet deadlines for its land use plan that would add three million square feet of commercial space and thousands of residents to the environmentally fragile area just outside the Grand Canyon National Park. And the developer says the government may be to blame for its failure to meet deadlines.

Stilo failed to provide enough information when it asked the Forest Service for access it Forest Service roads to the Kotzin and Ten-X sites. Stilo is also in a bind because it doesn’t have a water source for this massive project.

Instead of admitting its shortcomings, the company is instead claiming that ‘government action or inaction’ may be a factor.

Here is a portion of a January 30^th memo from Stilo’s attorney to Town Attorney Bill Sims.

“Dawn is concerned that we do not have an express mention of governmental action or inaction in the Force Majeure provision.  The problem here is that the failure of Stilo to meet the time deadlines in the Development Agreement will likely be due to matters beyond Stilo's control (i.e., governmental action or inaction).”

The memo fails to mention that Stilo spent a year trying to get a certificate from the Arizona Corporation Commission to form a water company, despite not having access to any water. The memo also fails to note Stilo request to utilize Forest Service roads was incomplete, even though they had months to prepare it.

In addition to pointing fingers, the letter also asks for changes in the temporary housing requirements at Camper Village. Stilo’s Tom DePaolo has already told the council that the current specs are not attracting any customers. Here is a link to the entire memo