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The 1996 purchase agreement contained several contingencies,
including approval by the Coconino County Board of Supervisors
(Coconino County Board) for final plat and zoning. The agreement
also provided that, if the buyer failed to close escrow for any
reason, the buyer agreed to provide the seller with copies of any
and all plans, engineering, plats, studies, surveys, and the
like, if requested by the seller.
Petitioner presented a general development plan report (1997
plan) for the property to the Coconino County Board in August
1997. The 1997 plan was a complete zoning change from the zoning
approved in the 1983 minutes. Petitioner planned to present the
zoning request for the property to the Coconino County Board at a
November 17, 1997, board hearing. Several weeks prior to the
scheduled board hearing, Walker met with Paul Babbitt (Babbitt),
head of the Coconino County Board. Babbitt indicated that he
would oppose the zoning request as a result of a groundswell of
protest from the community against development of 260 acres of
dry lake area within the subject property. On November 17, 1997,
petitioner met with Babbitt, another county supervisor, and a
county attorney before the hearing was to begin. Petitioner was
told “in no uncertain terms” that the zoning request did not have
the votes to pass. Petitioner immediately requested an extension
of the December 31, 1997, escrow deadline from Walker, who
rejected the extension because the property had been “tied up”
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Last modified: May 25, 2011