Developer Jim Mehen hoped to build a golf course and
gated community of 300 luxury homes on his 407 acres near
Flagstaff, Ariz. He’d revised his plans repeatedly in the past two
years to meet county concerns. But misgivings about development in
the volcanic caldera and wetland remained, and opposition to the
project gathered momentum.
In the morning hours
of Sept. 2, after 12 hours of testimony at a hearing attended by
hundreds of people, the Coconino County Board of Supervisors turned
down Mehen’s 18-hole golf course and allowed him to build only 42
homes.
“We were just thunderstruck,” says Mary
Sojourner, a founder of Friends of Dry Lake, a grassroots group
that fought the project planned for the bowl of an ancient volcano
(see essay page 16).
Before the county’s
decision, some believed that development in the Flagstaff area
would proceed unchecked. But hundreds of people wrote letters,
Sojourner says, and thousands more signed petitions. “The
community, which was lolling in apathy as we watched our community
turn into Vail, got off its ass,” she says.
While some opponents believe last month’s vote
ends Mehen’s development prospects for Dry Lake, he can always
revise them. As Rick Moore of Grand Canyon Trust says of the vote,
“It means what he submitted has been finally rejected. He can
resubmit. He can resubmit forever.”
*Karen
Mockler
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Developer told to scale back.
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