The Tusayan Town Council has signed the needed paperwork to receive 20 acres of land at Kotzin to be used for housing in Tusayan. Although no money changed hands, Tusayan paid a steep price for land that is currently not buildable.

Originally, Tusayan was promised 40 acres, but developer Stilo changed the terms of the deal when Stilo was found to be in default. Tusayan gave Stilo vested permanent zoning in order to get Stilo to make good on half of its promise. We’ll keep you posted on that other 20 acres.

That modified zoning means the Town of Tusayan has very little to say over how Stilo develops its properties and it retains that status forever.
Stilo has zoning to build three million square feet of commercial space and thousands of new homes even though it can’t identify a water source for the project.

It will be years before there is construction on the site. It could take two years before the Forest Service green lights access roads through its lands to the property. That’s because to 20 acres is remote. It’s inaccessible. It has no utilities. It has no water. And for that the Tusayan Town Council mortgaged the community’s soul. The exceptions are Bill Fitzgerald who voted against the Stilo project and John Rueter who declared a conflict.

On March 5th, the Town Council went into executive session to discuss the acreage and approved acceptance.
When the vote was taken to accept the land, Fitzgerald said he voted yes only because it was just a vote to accept the acreage. Fitzgerald says his opposition to the Stilo development is unchanged.
Mayor Greg Bryan greeted the new acreage with delight joking that he “wore out a knee begging just to get this thing done.”

Mayor Bryan said construction can’t happen until there is access through forest service lands to the Kotzin site. He says that could take as long as 24 months.

Once that happens then there is the task of getting roads, utilities and water service to the site.