Stilo Plan Faces Battle at the Ballot Box
December 7, 2011
By Mike Scerbo
The Stilo land use plan will likely be headed to the ballot box. A group called Citizens for Sustainable Growth has filed paperwork challenging Stilo’s plans to build a massive project that could devastate the local environment.
Stilo’s plans include parking garages, three million square feet of commercial space, as many as 8,000 residents, and trailer parks.
The effort is being led by Tusayan native and businesswoman Clarinda Vail and Tusayan Town Councilmember Bill Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald cast the only nay votes against the Stilo project.
They are collecting the signatures needed to bring this to the voters.
Fitzgerald is the only member of the Tusayan Town Council who has no financial ties to Stilo or its partners. He has long opposed the development plan because of its scope and size. He has also expressed concern about where developers will find enough water.
Vail shares those same concerns, “The Superintendent of the Grand Canyon National Park, The Havasupai Tribal Council, and the Sierra Club all oppose this plan. They worry it will dry up water supplies that feed Grand Canyon springs. They worry it will scar the landscape that greets millions of visitors who come to the Grand Canyon every year.”
Vail says private land development can be good for the community and the environment if it’s done responsibly. She worries that the Stilo plan will harm the Grand Canyon National Park, and she says if that happens then the entire local economy could collapse.