The third time proved to be the charm for a proposed hotel in West Sedona. The developers of Ambiente: A Landscape Hotel had twice previously requested a delay before coming before the Sedona Planning and Zoning Commission. But on Tuesday, July 2, the project was presented to the city in a public forum for the first time and the commission unanimously approved a development review.
Next up will be for the developers to submit for building permits. The project will not go back to P&Z.
The hotel is the brainchild of Mike Stevenson, who has been a business and property owner in the Verde Valley for many years. According to his letter of intent, the proposed project will be located on a vacant 3.1-acre parcel on State Route 89A. The property is directly across from the Les Springs subdivision entrance and just west of Mariposa Latin Inspired Grill.
This triangular-shaped parcel has approximately 760 feet of frontage adjacent to 89A and the other two sides of the parcel are adjacent to the Coconino National Forest on the north and Crestview Community Church and St. John Vianney Catholic Church to the west.
The proposed guest lodging for Ambiente is comprised of 40 individual atriums. The 576-square-foot atriums will have a small cube-shaped footprint, elevated off the ground by four steel piers. The piers will eliminate the need to grade a building’s pad site. This pier technique will allow each unit, as they are being constructed, to be rotated and individually placed at angles to fit within the existing trees, vegetation and drainage areas, a city document states.
“The objective of this unique lodging product is to give guests the ability to enjoy close contact with nature, sustainability, and a healthy life experience in luxurious surroundings,” the letter states.
According to Senior Planner Cari Meyer, the previous property owner applied for a rezoning to special use to allow for an office or hotel development, including a 40-unit hotel development on the property in 2006. This project was approved by P&Z and Sedona City Council in early 2007. While the special use zone is no longer an active one within the city, properties with existing special use zoning retain all entitlements unless the property is rezoned again.
Under the original conditions, the development review for the lodging of the project had to be approved with building permits issued within eight years of zone change approval. After the original approval, the market changed and the then-property owner began to question whether this deadline could be met. In 2009 a extension application was submitted.
With this application, the property owner requested that the zone change be granted on a permanent basis with no expiration date in exchange for the community benefits offered at the time of the original approval.
Meyer said these benefits included construction of the Adobe Jack Trailhead, which was completed in 2011, payment of $50,000 into the city’s affordable housing fund, and a commitment to building one affordable housing unit when it is ultimately developed. The extension was approved by council in March 2010.
Stevenson purchased the land in 2015 and shortly after began talking with the city in regard to his proposed project. Last summer he presented city staff with his plan. Since then there have been several minor revisions.
Stevenson said one of the things they plan to do is use local vendors and contractors who know the area and terrain. There will be some very strict rules in place in order to maintain as much as the natural landscape as possible. This may even include hand digging the footings for the atriums to avoid using heavy equipment in some areas.
“We’re going to try and minimize the impact,” he said. “Our whole purpose of doing this was to try and minimize the destruction of Sedona. That’s a main focus point we have — to make it beautiful. We’re just trying to bring the units in and set them in the forest.”
Ron Eland can be reached at 282-7795, ext. 122 or by email at reland@larsonnewspapers.com
