Tusayan has created a Housing Authority as a way to make affordable housing available to residents and people who work in Tusayan. The rules as to who would eligible have yet to be worked out. The authority itself is made up of the Tusayan Mayor and Council, however there is a provision to hire an Executive Director if needed.

Mayor Craig Sanderson says the council’s vote merely creates bylaws, but the directives as to how affordable housing would be handled have yet to be determined. There were prior directives drafted in the past but they have not been approved. Sanderson said, “We need to make sure we create a balance of those guidelines to ensure the first priority is the residents of Tusayan and the people that work here.” He admits it’s a complex process, “In order to ensure that we do the right thing.”

Sanderson also wants to stress that the issue is affordable housing not just low income housing and Sanderson acknowledges there is a difference, “Affordable housing is not just low income. If we created something that says if you make $15,000 a year or less that leaves a lot of people within the town as well as other portions that would be excluded from that opportunity. But at the same time we want equal opportunity. So it’s important that those who are low income have some support. We are counting from funding from the non-profit organization to assist in that. From the town prospective we want to have housing for everybody.”

Sanderson was interviewed before the Forest Service rejected the Kotzin access request, However there is nothing in the language approved by the council that makes the Authority dependent on Stilo’s controversial development.