In discussing the new and long-overdue Land Development Code, the Sedona City Council on Oct. 8 centered the talk around a new requirement for garages.

The new rules seem less directed at the actual use of garages but more of a backdoor way to limit short-term vacation rentals, or at least make converting a garage into a short-term vacation rental unit far more costly for a potential renter.

Section 5.5.D of the Land Development Code sets out a new mandate regarding garages for single-family detached dwelling, i.e., residential homes. 

The current code is not measured by square footage but the number of bedrooms. 

For dwellings with four or fewer bedrooms, the current code mandates two spaces per dwelling unit. For homes with more than four bedrooms, code demands a base two spaces plus one additional space for each bedroom over four with accessory guest rooms included in the overall parking calculations. So a huge house with eight bedrooms would require six parking spaces, regardless of the actual square footage. 

The new revision of the code mandates that “A two-car garage with a minimum of 400 square feet is required in all single-family residential zones for houses greater than 1,500 square feet in size,” which seems reasonable enough as it sets out a square footage requirement. 

To reduce the number of vehicles parking on public streets, under the new code, if a new land parcel can hold a house of 1,500 square feet or more, an additional 400 square feet for parking to take cars off the road probably doesn’t eat up too much more land area given the setback requirements in the rest of the residential code.

As it happens, which was astutely addressed by Sedona City Councilwoman Jessica Williamson, many garages start out as vehicle bays but, over time, become de facto storage sheds filled with bicycles, motorcycles, workbenches, barbecues, excess furniture and outdoor gear or rarer things like drum sets, ping-pong tables, pool tables, art easels, kayaks or golf carts. 

However, not all new homeowners may want a garage or want the added expense when they feel a covered carport or uncovered parking slab is sufficient. 

Under the current code, “If a garage is converted into habitable space, the garage shall be replaced or the additional required surface parking must be screened.” 

The new revision strikes out “… or the additional required surface parking must be screened …” making mandatory the new garage stated earlier and adds that “a landscaped area at least three feet in depth must be maintained adjacent to the front of the converted garage for the entire width of the converted garage. Required landscaping shall be at a minimum rate of four shrubs per each 10 linear feet.” 

Not all garage conversions will be used for short-term vacation rentals. 

Perhaps homeowners have a new child and they want to convert an access garage to a bedroom for the growing family. Perhaps the homeowners are taking in an aging parent or grandparent their current bedrooms have no room for. 

Now instead of the mere added expense of the room conversion — electrical wiring, insulation, possibly plumbing — homeowners will be saddled with the additional cost of building an entirely new garage, which in Sedona’s housing market could add hundreds of thousands of dollars to a new structure, in addition to building fees required to be paid to the city. The city may be attempting to use this back door to limit vacation rentals, but there are unforeseen risks and costs the may hamper regular homeowners. 

While the complaints about off-street parking are the city’s argument, such complaints are generally in neighborhoods with smaller homes that are under the 1,500-square-foot minimum and would not be affected by this new requirement.

If city leaders want to target vacation rentals, they should work with other cities to put pressure on lawmakers for new bills to allow city and county regulations rather than try roundabout ways to address the problem.