By Felicia Fonseca | The Associated Press
Thousands of tourists each day drive past Tusayan’s scattering of modest hotels, restaurants and gift shops, listening as helicopters buzz overhead on their way to the Grand Canyon’s South Rim.
Developers have sought for decades to seize on the heavy traffic in the town of about 600, just outside the national park’s entrance. An Italian company appeared poised to make that happen with plans that were themselves grand: a dude ranch, high-end boutiques, five-star hotels, a cultural center, hundreds of homes and a high-density shopping area just off the highway.
But Stilo Development Group USA has defaulted on an agreement with town officials, and its application to access land it owns has hit a snag with the U.S. Forest Service.
