For the past two and a half years, the topic of short-term vacation rentals has been on the minds of many in Sedona with some saying the issue has hit a critical point. 
While the city of Sedona has some say in regard to areas like health and public safety, for the most part officials’ hands are tied as a result of Senate Bill 1350, which went into effect on Jan. 1, 2017, eliminating a city or county’s ability to ban the practice. And while there were hundreds of short-term vacation rentals in the Sedona area prior to the bill, it was technically in violation of city code.

Arizona Rep. Bob Thorpe [R-District 6] will be hosting a public meeting on Wednesday, July 24, at 3 p.m. at Sedona City Hall to discuss the topic. 
“I am still being contacted by Northern Arizona constit­uents regarding vacation rentals and I want to provide a forum to discuss the issues and to review the legislation just passed,” Thorpe said in regard to why he requested the Sedona meeting. 

“The concerns I’ve heard mostly include the quality of life and impacts to neighbor­hoods, including problems with parking, parties, noise, trash, etc.” 
Thorpe said he believes House Bill 2672 helps resolve the party house problems. However, he said he’s still concerned when businesses purchase homes and do not have someone actually living on site managing the behavior of the renters, and negative impacts to neighbors. 
“The original legislation assumed that an AirBnB model would be used, where a homeowner could rent out a room or guesthouse, not where a business would purchase residential homes 
 and convert them into mini-hotels without local govern­ment oversight,” he said.

On May 21, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed House Bill 2672. This bill prohibits a short-term vacation rentals from:

• Being used for nonresidential uses, including for special events that would require a permit or license for a retail, restaurant, banquet space or other similar use.
• Being offered for rent or being rented without a current Transaction Privilege Tax license.
• Being offered for rent without the TPT license number being included in the advertisement.
• It also allows cities, towns and counties to require short-term owners to provide contact information for someone who is responsible for responding to complaints in a timely manner before advertising or renting the home.
• In addition, cities, towns and counties can use certain information on a short-term owner’s TPT license for the purpose of enforcing local regulations of vacation rentals.

Violators of the bill can be fined $250 for a first-time offense and up to $1,500 for a third offense, which would be imposed by the Arizona Department of Revenue based upon veri­fied violations.
“I appreciate the work of Rep. John Kavanagh [R-District 23] and the stakeholders including the League of [Arizona] Cities and Towns, however addi­tional legislation may still be needed, which is the reason for the meeting,” Thorpe said.

Sedona City Manager Justin Clifton said it’s his understanding that Thorpe contacted Sedona Mayor Sandy Moriarty, expressing interest in having a commu­nity meeting to hear opinions on state legislation relating to short-term rentals. He said the city intends to create an agenda that would include a brief presentation about state laws relating to short-term rentals and informa­tion about short-term rental activity in Sedona.

“I think it’s great to be able to host a meeting locally,” Clifton said. “We get a lot of input from citizens concerning short-term rental activity despite the fact that state law preempts the city from addressing most of those concerns. I think it’s important that state legisla­tors hear about the unique impacts in Sedona.

 Ron Eland can be reached at 282-7795, ext. 122 or by email at reland@larsonnewspapers.com