There is still no firm date as to when the Forest Service will announce a decision on whether to grant Italian developer Stilo access to Forest Service land in order to facilitate a controversial development project.

Stilo wants to use Long Jim Loop Road to connect Highway 64 with the Kotzin project. That’s despite massive opposition to the idea from the Superintendent of the Grand Canyon National Park, the Havasupai Indian Community, the Sierra Club and nearly 200,000 messages submitted in opposition.

Originally, the Forest service hoped to have a decision as soon as August. The volume of correspondence, the vast majority of which has come from opponents, has changed those plans.

“We are still working through the many thousands of comments received. As you likely know, that was the most comments the Kaibab National Forest has received on a single issue in recent memory. We want to give the process of reviewing those comments the time and attention to detail that it deserves. That being said, I do believe we will be able to announce the level of analysis soon,” said Jacqueline Banks, Public Affairs Officer for the Kaibab National Forest.

The Stilo plan would create three million square feet of commercial space and thousands of homes in the area. Meanwhile Stilo’s promises of affordable housing remain unfulfilled.

That doesn’t mean quality housing doesn’t exist, while Elling Halvorson continues to place workers in trailers, Red Feather Properties and Canyon Forest are living in permanent structures. Red Feather’s Fireside Ridge has been open for just under a year and the area has matured well.