$500-Mil Grand Canyon Project Is on Track

FLAGSTAFF-A $500-million development on the Grand Canyon’s southern rim remains on track even after a court ruling last week that nullified a land trade central to the deal. The developers of Canyon Forest Village, a mixed-use project with a resort hotel and retail space planned for the southern rim of the Grand Canyon, expect to bring the project back to voters as early as November, albeit on a smaller scale, says Tom DePaolo, managing partner of the Canyon Forest Village development. DePaolo says he expects to resolve issues raised in court, which have placed a hurdle in front of the plan, in as few as 60 days.

Late last week, a Federal judge ruled that the US Forest Service failed to comply with the Environmental Protection Act by not gauging the impact that Canyon Forest Village would have on water usage. The Forest Service should have examined the effect of water usage by the 272-acre development, both in groundwater pumping and in hauling water to the site. The judge ordered that Canyon Forest Village be sent back to the Forest Service for further discussion.

Critics of the project, mostly nearby cities that have a monopoly on hotels and restaurants in the area, claimed that the ruling meant the a new environmental impact study would have to be conducted. It took the developers of Canyon Forest Village and the Kaibab Forest more than five years to conduct the initial study. Opponents believe that the ruling is the death knell for the project, especially since last November voters in Coconino County overwhelmingly rejected a rezoning of the property.