Italian developer Stilo is refusing to reimburse Tusayan for nearly $1.7 million associated with convincing the federal government to give Stilo access to Forest Service roads to facilitate its massive development project in Tusayan

The Town made that request noting that the revised Pre Annexation Development Agreement (PADA) calls for such reimbursements.

Tusayan’s previous administration was spending as much as $15,000 a month on lobbyists until Mayor Clarinda Vail and the current Town Council ended the lobbyist contract shortly after Vail took office.

In a September 24th letter, the Town attorney asked Stilo for $1,711,847.11 to cover some of the Town’s expenses. The letter and a breakdown of expenses are linked here.

In its response, Stilo said it is under no obligation to reimburse the town for the listed expenses. Stilo says it is only obligated to reimburse the Town for staff time and the direct costs of processing the application.

Here is a link to that response.

However the Town’s request for reimbursement goes into great detail and there are numerous line items on Brownstein’s bill that reference “Road Easement Project.” Here is a link. 

Despite rejecting the reimbursement request, Stilo continues to ask Tusayan to sign off on a joint letter to the Forest Service addressing concerns related to the Tusayan Sanitary District.

Forest Service road access is needed for Stilo’s massive development in Tusayan which includes nearly two million square feet of commercial space and thousands of homes.

In 2016, the Forest Service “returned” a similar request after receiving more than 200,000 messages opposing the idea.