It comes down to simple math — 2.8 million visitors coming to a town of 10,000 residents. In the end, there are bound to be some issues.

While traffic is the biggest complaint among residents, another one that is quickly moving up the list is parking, specifically trailhead parking.

The Sedona City Council received an update on the issue during its Thursday, Nov. 10, meeting. A city report states that the recent increases in tourism have increased the number of parking-related issues at and/or near trailheads. In recent months, residents near Soldier Pass Trailhead, in particular, have complained about the overflow of vehicles parking on neighborhood streets.

The problem is not unique to that particular area. City staff has received complaints at most trailhead parking areas at one time or another, the report states. Trailheads at Back O’Beyond, Chapel and Sugarloaf have all generated complaints by neighbors in those areas. Additionally, the city receives complaints about trailheads outside of Sedona city limits including Dry Creek, Mescal, Long Canyon, Midgley Bridge and others.

“The overall concern is that we could be exacerbating the problem,” City Manager Justin Clifton said. “We’re constraining the supply of parking, incrementally, one action at a time. Those vehicles are being displaced but they’re being displaced among the remainder of the system that’s also getting smaller and smaller. Recently we’ve seen an increase in visitors. So more demand and less supply.”

The report lists the pros and cons for four different scenarios in regard to placing no-parking signs in the Rim Shadows area. One option is to do nothing, another is to expanding the no-parking zone throughout Rim Shadows, third is to add signs in just selected areas and fourth is to wait for a more comprehensive strategy.

Council, which debated all the options, directed staff to move forward with expanding no-parking zones throughout Rim Shadows rear the trailhead. This option contemplates expanding no-parking  zones throughout the area closest to the trailhead, Clifton said. This means both of the loop roads [Canyon Shadows and Rim Shadows] and the two circles that come off of those roads. The pros and cons of that action, as listed by staff, include:

Pros

• Issue will be improved or potentially resolved for residents at Rim Shadows nearest the trailhead

Cons

• Displaced parking could move, creating negative impacts at other locations, possibly including other areas within the Rim Shadows neighborhood.
• The total parking supply will be reduced at the same time demand for parking is likely increasing.
• Expanded no-parking zones could create frustration and confusion for locals and visitors who arrive at the trailhead only to find no parking.
• Expanded no-parking zones could create other problems, such as increased traffic in the neighborhood as people travel in and out or vehicles waiting for parking to open.
• Expanded no-parking zones could create a burden on residents who desire on street parking or create an administrative burden associated with permitting resident parking.

During the discussion, like Clifton, council members expressed concern about pushing the problem in one neighborhood to another and then having a domino effect. They also said they want to see what the ongoing transportation study says in regard to a possible shuttle services to the area’s most popular trailheads. But in the end they felt something needed to be done in the Rim Shadows area for the sake of the residents in that neighborhood.

Residents who spoke at this meeting and others had concerns not only about the ever-increasing number of cars parked near the trailheads but had other complaints as well. Some spoke of speeding cars, the amount of trash left behind, damage to the sides of the roadways, emergency vehicle access and excessive noise from trail users early in the morning prior to the gates being opened by the U.S. Forest Service at 8 a.m.

“It’s unfortunate that we’ve become a de facto parking lot for the Forest Service,” resident Craig Sigler said. “That’s where the problem lies. That area is overloved