By Mike Scerbo

Italian developer Stilo’s plans to extort vested zoning from the Tusayan Town Council are on hold.
Stilo is in default of its development agreement because the developer failed to deliver a water supply and 40 acres of land for affordable housing for rezoning that gets Stilo three million square feet of commercial space and the ability to add thousands of residents.

The default notice prompted Stilo to hold the land hostage in exchange for vested zoning which would rob this Town Council, or future councils, of having much of a say in how the land is developed. There is nothing stopping Stilo from giving the Town the 40 acres for affordable housing. The company simply wanted to change the deal to its favor.

The Council was headed toward amending the deal with Stilo until it was discovered that Stilo never bothered to get site approval for the disastrous temporary housing it set up at Camper Village. Generally considered to be an eyesore, this collection of trailers had previously been cited by the state of Arizona for not having the proper permitting. Now comes word Stilo had so little respect of the Town it just went ahead and plopped down trailers without submitting a site plan to the Town of Tusayan.

At the Council’s November 20th meeting, Stilo learned the hard way that the rules apply to them. The Town Council has put off any changes to the development agreement until Stilo submits a site plan and it is approved. In addition the stop worker remains in place at Camper Village.

The Council went into executive session November 20th and decided against giving Stilo any amended zoning. Mayor Bryan said, “We have directed staff to further pursue items of concern with regard to Camper Village. On November 13th we placed a stop work order on any further construction on Camper Village. That order will stay in place.”
Stilo was given 45 days to submit a real site plan.

These days Stilo has been in sleeper mode. Because it no longer needs to influence local elections, there are no more pizza parties and goodies to give away. Stilo’s front-man, Andy Jacobs, hardly attends any council meetings, unless there is something in it for Stilo. Its website “Tusayan’s Future” is off line. Its Facebook page doesn’t have a pulse. This is not to say they won’t come back.

They may try again to take over the Sanitary District or the Fire District. They may try to stock the Council with more compliant candidates. They most certainly will try to import temporary residents here just long enough to vote. But this time Tusayan’s population has wised up. It has seen Stilo’s shoddy construction and broken promises. And perhaps this time Tusayan will send Stilo packing.