Page 9 - the NOISE July 2015

TOO MUCH TUSAYAN?
STORY BY CINDY COLE
council on environmental quality executive office of the president
A Citizen’s Guide to the NEPA Having Your
Voice Heard
december 2007
GRAPHIC BY OMAR VICTOR
in the weeks leading up to the comment period deadline on June 2. In addition to comments from individuals and business owners in Tusayan and Flagstaff, Kaibab NF heard opposition from the City of Flagstaff, Bill Towler, former Community Development Director at Coconino County, and Steve Martin who was the Superintendent of Grand Canyon NP from 2007 until his retirement in 2011. Both the Hopi and Havasupai Nations have expressed their opposition to the plans.
Earthjustice, a team of environmental attorneys, filed a 120+page document on behalf of the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), the Grand Canyon Trust, Sierra Club and the Center for Biological Diversity. The letter and report urges the USFS “to reject the proposal or, at a minimum, to prepare a full environmental impact statement disclosing the impacts of the massive development on water, wildlife, air quality, traffic, crime and other resources and factors.”
Earthjustice summarizes its opposition to the plan saying, “The purpose and effect of the easements is to facilitate Stilo’s plans for a massive commercial and residential development on the doorstep of Grand Canyon National Park, one of the nation’s and the planet’s most recognized, iconic, awe-inspiring, and beloved landscapes. As detailed below, Stilo’s massive development threatens the water, wildlife, visitors, and infrastructure of the Park, and for that reason alone should be rejected. The easements and development are opposed by the undersigned, Flagstaff businesses, the National Park Service, former Park Service employees, and more than a hundred thousand members of the public who have written the Forest Service. On the other side of the ledger are the hopes of a wealthy foreign corporation seeking to cash in on the Canyon’s popularity. This project thus does not serve the public interest.”
Current Grand Canyon Superintendent Dave Uberuaga told Smithsonian Magazine in March that the Tusayan development project (along with the $100 million Escalade project on the Navajo Nation at eastern edge of the Canyon), constituted “the greatest threat to the Grand Canyon in the 96-year history of the park.”
Stilo’s attorneys wrote a letter to the USFS stating that issues like water sources and other impacts to Grand Canyon are “unsubstantiated assertions” that should not be a part of the USFS review of the easement request. It asserts that the only impact that should be considered is how increased traffic will affect the area. “Mr. Uberuaga’s comments erroneously assume that the (Forest Service) has some obligation to manage the National Forest as a buffer zone for the Grand Canyon National Park,” the letter says.
Earthjustice attorney Ted Zukoski said, “The Forest Service is paving the way for foreign investors to exploit America’s most treasured natural landmark all to turn a profit.”
Kaibab NF has estimated that an environmental analysis of the requested permits will take at least one year to complete. A full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) would take about twice that long. The USFS has not announced which option it will follow. Additional opportunities for public comment will become available as the process moves forward.
Documentation on the process to date can be found at fs.usda.gov/detail/kaibab/news- events/?cid=STELPRD3828424
| Cindy Cole is fond of expansive views here in the Southwest.
cindycole@thenoise.us
thenoise.us • the NOISE arts & news • JULY 2015 • 9 NEWSFEATURE
One of the perks of living in Northern Arizona is being in close proximity to some of the most beautiful canyon country in the US, Including being at the doorstep of one of the seven natural wonders of the world, Grand Canyon National Park. The canyon itself is protected as a National Park while much of the surrounding land is part of the Kaibab National Forest.
The South Rim is the most popular entrance point to Grand Canyon NP. About two miles south of the park’s entrance, many visitors travel through Tusayan. Incorporated in 2010, the small tourist town has less than 600 permanent residents and occupies about 144 acres making it the smallest town in Arizona by area. For many years, Tusayan has served as a stopping off point for visitors headed to Grand Canyon NP and the town is host to several hotels, restaurants and other tourism related businesses including the Grand Canyon IMAX Theater. But a new development proposal stands to alter Tusayan’s small-town atmosphere into what has been called a “mega-mall” instead.
Italian developer Gruppo Stilo has been working with the town of Tusayan to bring a massive amount of expansion to the humble town. Stilo’s website boasts that it has managed to acquire “almost 75% of the privately owned property” that surrounds Tusayan and the South Rim. Stilo owns two properties on the outskirts of Tusayan that are each bigger than the town itself. One property is over 160 acres, the other is nearly 200. In addition, the company has a joint-venture partnership for private land that is within the town’s boundaries. The company attempted to develop these lands in the 1990s but lost on a 2000 referendum voted down by Coconino
County residents. But Tusayan’s 2010 incorporation reopened the development plans. Re-zoning of the three properties to allow all of the planned uses was completed in November 2011. Stilo’s website says that the company plans for the smaller “Kotzin Ranch” property to comprise “a wide range of visitor services that will include lodging, a pedestrian-orientated retail village, an Insight educational campus, a Native American Cultural Center, a conference hotel [and] other services and limited residential uses.” The larger“TenX Ranch”property, which is located on the east side of Tusayan, “is planned as a residential community for area residents
of the Grand Canyon region. Housing diversity will include single-family homes, apartments, condominiums and townhouses. A recreational vehicle park will be included as a replacement for the Camper Village RV Park and land is reserved for parks, trails, houses of worship and other community amenities. Neighborhood commercial services are conveniently located on site for area residents. A dude ranch and spa hotel are planned for the southern tip of the property.” The company further describes the Camper Village property as “strategically located in the heart of Tusayan” and “well suited for highway-oriented visitor uses such as lodging, retail, restaurants and other commercial development.”
The only thing, technically, that currently stands in the way of transforming the small- town gateway to Grand Canyon into an expansive mass of high-end homes (more than 2000 residences in total are reportedly in the plans), restaurants, retail stores, and exclusive resort-style amenities — is the United State Forest Service (USFS). In order for Stilo to begin developing its properties in Tusayan, the company needs road and utility easements through national forest lands in Kaibab NF. The Town of Tusayan has applied for the permits necessary to create access to Stilo’s property holdings. The permit application itself seems innocuous but it is obvious to many that the intention is to facilitate Stilo’s grand development plans.
More than 200,000 people flooded the USFS with comments opposing the permit application
38 • JUNE 2015 • the NOISE arts & news • thenoise.us newsfeature