Glamorous camping — or “glamping” as it has come to be known — was the topic of the day for the Sedona Planning and Zoning Commission as it tried to decide whether or not it is appropriate for a recently-created heritage district.

The purpose of the Tuesday, Sept. 15, meeting was to discuss the removal of campgrounds as an allowable use in the Schnebly Community Focus Area and Oak Creek Heritage District, which is located between Schnebly Hill Road and Oak Creek.

In the end, the commission recommended that camping, which would include tents, RVs and travel trailers, should not be allowed in the new CFA. However, glamping, which could include high-end yurts or other structures with utilities, would be looked at as lodging and allowed.

The number of units allowed would be four to eight per acre, depending upon the zoning of that particular parcel. Staff will come back before the commission with a revised version of the CFA wording dealing with camp­grounds at a later date.

Rancho Sedona RV Park, off Schnebly Hill Road, is grandfathered and thus is not affected.

Last October the commission held a public hearing for the rezoning in the Schnebly CFA to the new Oak Creek zoning district, recommending approval of the rezoning to Sedona City Council. This zone change request, encom­passing 18 parcels, is the result of an approximately four-year effort to establish the Schnebly CFA.

Six entities own a total 44.39 acres, which is about half the size of the total CFA.

This zoning district intends to provide options for development designs that will preserve the character of the area by incorporating a network of natural open space and pathways into developments to create a park-like, walkable district. The district would allow for single-family homes or multi-family residential complexes; lodging and campgrounds; agriculture; and parks, recreation and open space. Commercial use is limited.

Included in the original version of the new district were campgrounds, which are prohibited elsewhere in the city. Campgrounds were also considered to be more environmentally friendly than the alternative of a housing subdivision, a report states.

Since October some of the CFA stakeholders have expressed concerns regarding the idea of allowing campgrounds within the heritage district.

Concerns include:

• Campgrounds could become lodging and develop with up to eight units per acre within the residential zoning district.

• Campgrounds in this area are inconsistent with the vision for the area.

• The city never envi­sioned a proliferation of campgrounds throughout the CFA. The original vision was to preserve the ranch-style character of the Schnebly Hill area. Campgrounds as well as yurts and similar inter­pretations don’t fit that character.

• Concerns regarding increased numbers of people and traffic and impact to Oak Creek.

To speak on behalf of allowing some type of high-end camping or lodging were the owners and contractors of the Sedona Creative Life Center, which includes 16 acres within the Oak Creek Heritage District. The owners have expressed the desire to have some type of lodging on the property and wish to amend the density so that all the parcels would allow eight units per acre.

“I believe if we can do eight units per acre on our 16 acres and make it fit inside the CFA, that we should be allowed to do it,” said John Bradshaw, a busi­ness partner of the owner of the Sedona Creative Life Center, Cyril Chiosa.

Bradshaw added that they hope to submit a project plan to the city in the near future.

“If we can’t do the eight per acre we will dial it back to where it can fit and do what the characteristics of the district are. We feel we can make this a project everyone will be proud of,” he said.

Many commissioners were seeking a definition for glamping and what type of lodging it entails. Defining it has proven to be difficult but they expressed that it should not fall within the same category as camping.

“There’s a very blurry line between glamping, which are these higher-end units that have all the amenities and infrastruc­ture that a lodging facility would have, and lodging,” Assistant City Manager and Community Development Director Karen Osburn said. “I do think tents and yurts — that are temporary and removable — RVs and travel trailers are some­thing different. I like where the commission is going in determining camping as tents, RVs or travel trailers and then everything else is lodging.”