Court Rejects $500-Mil Grand Canyon Project

Last week, a federal judge ruled that the Forest Service failed to comply with the national 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 development, both in ground water pumping and in hauling water to the site.

The judge sent the Canyon Forest Village proposal back to the Forest Service for additional preparation. As a result, the Forest Service would have to conduct an environmental impact statement, get county approval and try to get voters to pass another referendum, before it can complete a land swap with the developer that will allow creation of Canyon Forest Village.

The Forest Service had intended to swap 12 disparate parcels within the Tonto National Forest with the developers of Canyon Forest Village for a single parcel near the south rim of the Grand Canyon. It has taken the Forest Service five years to approve the land exchange.

The land exchange was opposed by the cities of Flagstaff and Williams and the Grand Canyon Improvement Association of Tusayan, which filed suit last year to stop the exchange. These communities currently have a monopoly on hotels and other services that are used by tourists visiting the Grand Canyon.

Opponents feel that the ruling might be the death knell of the project, given that last November voters in Coconino County overwhelmingly rejected a rezoning of the property.

The developers of Canyon Forest Village, an international consortium of investors, wants to build a 900-room hotel, as much as 250,00 sf of retail space and some housing for National Park and Forest Service personnel. The development group has not said what it plans to do next with the dozen parcels it owns within the park, or if it will continue to pursue the Canyon Forest concept.