Residents of a small Arizona community that serves as a gateway to the Grand Canyon's popular South Rim are at odds over incorporating.
Tusayan has about 550 residents, and its 144 acres of private land are dotted with houses, hotels, restaurants and shops. Voters defeated a move to incorporate by 16 votes last year.
They're set to vote on incorporation again in November, but some residents recently filed a lawsuit to block the election.
Supporters say incorporation would give residents a stake in their community and an ability to levy a sales tax on money spent by tourists headed to the Grand Canyon. Critics say it would promote unbridled growth that would cheapen tourists' experience in an area famous for its natural beauty.
Members of United for Tusayan, a group pushing for incorporation, said they believe there's a better chance it will be approved this year because residents have a better understanding of the issue.
If the effort succeeds, Tusayan would be one of the smallest of Arizona's cities and towns. No community in Arizona has been incorporated since 2005.
Al Montoya said residents have no future without incorporation. About a half-dozen people own homes in Tusayan, and many hotel and restaurant employees live in company-owned housing or commute from nearby towns.
Montoya, a photo lab manager, figures he has paid about $100,000 in rent to live in Tusayan over more than a decade when he could have owned a home someplace else.
"It's my firm belief that we can be our masters of our destiny here," Montoya said. "Right now, we have to depend on so much for the county to approve. I don't think it gives us a fair opportunity on what we could do with our little town."
A state law signed six years ago gives communities of at least 500 people that are within 10 miles of a national park or monument the chance to incorporate.
Clarinda Vail, who initially supported the legislation, no longer believes incorporation is in the best interest of Tusayan residents. Vail and two other residents have sued the pro-incorporation group and county officials over the upcoming election and the constitutionality of the law under which Tusayan can incorporate.
The lawsuit challenges some of the petition signatures and the effort to incorporate the nearby airport, which the lawsuit said cannot be done without state permission.
Coconino County Recorder Candace Owens, who is named in the lawsuit, said she stands by the certification of the petition and the election.
The lawsuit doesn't mention what Vail said is a major concern for her, that incorporation will lead to a town council she believes will be unable to avoid conflicts of interests in planning and zoning issues. With most residents working in the tourism industry, it's inevitable, she said.
"It's hard to govern yourselves when you're all in the same business," said Vail, whose family owns the Red Feather Lodge. "We need an entity larger than us, a step bigger like Coconino County, to be able to remove those conflicts of interest."
Vail said she would support the creation of a community facilities district to levy a sales tax, but those efforts and others to create a residential and retail project have failed.
Tusayan residents receive some local services in the form of special districts that use a portion of property taxes to fund things such as ambulance and fire services. And the community has an award-winning sanitation district.
Clayann Cook said she shouldn't have to drive 55 miles to Williams for essentials that aren't available in Tusayan, like her husband's blood-pressure medicine or a decent price on a gallon of milk or gas.
"We all spend so much time on the road because we don't have the services," she said.
Copyright 2009 AP News
