Sedona residents who want the right to rent their homes out for fewer than 30 days call existing laws “outdated” and demand the Sedona City Council make changes to allow the practice.

Sedona residents who want the right to rent their homes out for fewer than 30 days call existing laws “outdated” and demand the Sedona City Council make changes to allow the practice.

The Sedona Vacation Rental Solutions Association, a national association of Sedona homeowners, intends to press for changes in the law “as long as there is a public forum for us to do so,” said David Mathews, an SVRSA spokesman.

Current laws unfairly favor large resorts and hotels, Mathews said.

“Consider whether City Council is creating an elitist society and refusing this national treasure to the larger U.S. except under terms of a hotel,” he said.

During a work session Sept. 26, the City Council decided to strengthen the city’s existing ban on rentals of fewer than 30 days and step up prosecution.

Violation of the ban is a Class 1 misdemeanor that carries a maximum fine of $2,500 and up to six months in jail.

The city wasted little time to step up enforcement.

Sedona Code Enforcement Officer Jim Windham started sending out cease-and-desist letters this month addressed to people who advertise the rental of a family home for fewer than 30 days, according to city records.

“Such rentals are criminal offenses,” Windham wrote.

“I would ask that you cease and desist from renting any single family dwellings that lie within residentially zoned districts,”

he added.

Mathews said existing laws create an unfriendly climate.

“It’s unclear who is the target — homeowners, property managers, tourists — but it’s the Wild West here and in visiting nowadays you should be prepared to face the sheriff,” he said.

The council’s refusal to accommodate short-term rentals also hurts the local economy, Mathews claimed.

Resort towns like Aspen, Colo., Lake Tahoe, Nev., and Maui, Hawaii, permit limited short-term vacation rentals in designated neighborhoods, he said.

“Sedona has the wherewithal to do the same for local tourism and real estate, rather than lay to waste and economic loss values that are already suffering,” Mathews said.

SVRSA proposes the city allow homeowners to rent their residences on a short-term basis so long as they obtain a license and pay bed and income taxes on the income they receive.

Sedona Vice Mayor Jerry Frey said he believes at least a majority of the council does not favor that approach.

“This has been brewing for a long time,” Frey said.

“Yes, we are a tourist town, but we also have full-time residents who don’t like short-term rentals,” Frey said. “This law was already on the books. All we’re trying to do is enforce it.”

Although he never experienced problems when neighbors rented their homes on a short-term basis, he understands the concerns of residents who dislike the practice.

“People who take the short-term rentals are here on vacation and they do what people on vacation will do. They drink a beer, listen to the radio and some people don’t appreciate that in their neighborhood,” he said.

City records show that many of the people who want to rent their homes on a short-term basis and urge changes in the law don’t reside in Sedona.

Mathews disputed that.

A retired firefighter and police officer from Palm Springs, Calif., Mathews said his group represents Sedona homeowners who live all over the country.

“In general, it’s people who want to live here full-time and have purchased a property with the intent of doing so. A lot of the people are people who intend to  retire here,” he said.