As Sedona’s summer weather heats up, so does the affordable housing issue.
On Tuesday, Aug. 19, the Sedona Planning and Zoning Commission will hold a public hearing to discuss a proposed amendment to the city’s Community Plan that would allow an increased density as an incentive for developers to build affordable housing.

As Sedona’s summer weather heats up, so does the affordable housing issue.
On Tuesday, Aug. 19, the Sedona Planning and Zoning Commission will hold a public hearing to discuss a proposed amendment to the city’s Community Plan that would allow an increased density as an incentive for developers to build affordable housing.
If Planning and Zoning decides to move ahead with it, City Council is tentatively scheduled to address the proposed amendment on Tuesday, Oct. 14.
Currently, Sedona’s Community Plan allows developers to build 12 units per acre, but the proposed amendment would increase the density to 20 units per acre if, for all additional units, there is one affordable unit for every two fair market value units.
If a developer took the city up on its offer and built all 20 units, of the additional eight units, five would be fair market value and three would be affordable, Mike Raber, senior long-range planner, said.
Despite some residents’ concerns that 20 units per acre will be popping up all over the city, few residential areas are included, Director of Community Development John O’Brien said. The amendment would primarily affect commercial, lodging, multi-family and some special planning and planned areas.
Community Development Department staff stress that although 20 units may be allowed in limited zones around the city, it doesn’t mean developers will cover every available parcel with all 20 units.
In commercial mixed-use zoning, the ordinance currently allows 12 units per acre, but the average is now 4.4 units, O’Brien said.
According to Linda Martinez, Housing Commission chair, Sedona’s old solution for housing was to let workers live in outlying communities.
That doesn’t work anymore, since housing prices are up everywhere, she said. Camp Verde, once a popular home to Sedona’s workers, is now looking at ways to find its own affordable housing.
Even though the housing market has dipped, it’s harder to get loans, Martinez said, and with record high gas prices, workers aren’t going to drive to Sedona like they used to.
At a public meeting Tuesday, July 29, members of the public expressed concern over the proposed amendment, citing congestion and more lighting as
some concerns.
The housing commission is familiar with the “sacred cows” that people don’t want to touch to solve the housing issue, Martinez said — sales tax, property tax, transfer tax, no forest trades and no significant city spending.
“Who benefits?” Martinez asked about giving Sedona’s workers a home. “We all do. These are the people who drive the city. There is no solution that is without cost in some way.”
After living in Sedona for 23 years, Martinez knows that people are going to come, she said.
“We can’t lock the doors, but we can have a say in how this can be done.”
The proposed amendment would take a while to come into effect, so even though it’s unlikely developers would take the city up on its offer for 20 units in the current housing market, Community Development wants it in place for the future, O’Brien said.
Height issue
E-mails have been circulating in the city — and reaching as far as Phoenix — expressing concern that the proposed amendment “would certainly ensure that three-story buildings will be built.”
The e-mail states that Sedona zoning “has traditionally limited the heights of buildings to two stories.”
According to O’Brien, Sedona does not have a building height limit based on the number of stories. In general, a building is allowed to be constructed 22 feet high, measured parallel to natural grade.
“In theory, you could get a maximum height of 32 feet by having a pitched roof,” O’Brien said. “In some cases, you could get to three stories above natural grade, as the Sedona Rouge did. So, our current building height ordinance already allows three-story buildings in some instances.”
Changing the housing policy will not change the building height ordinance, he said.
The housing policy allows buildings containing affordable units to be increased by up to 8 feet in height for those portions of the building located at least 20 feet from any property line, O’Brien explained. Proposals to apply the building height incentive are considered on a case-by-case basis.
A development review public hearing before the Planning and Zoning Commission is required for any project that proposes to use any of the development
standards incentives in the housing policy, he said, including the building height incentive.

Alison Ecklund can be reached at 282-7795, Ext. 125, or e-mail aecklund@larsonnewspapers.com