Trash, noise, illegal parking, human excrement, pedestrian dangers and vehicle exhaust. These are some of the items listed from Indian Cliffs residents regarding their concern of trailhead parking in a church near their subdivision.
Some of the same residents who attended a public meeting on April 21, at the Sedona United Methodist Church, spoke at the Sedona Planning and Zoning Commission meeting Tuesday, May 4.
The meeting was designed as a bit of a housekeeping mechanism for staff to make any changes to the Land Development Code, which was updated in 2018. But, nearly an hour of the meeting was focused on the allowing of parking areas at churches and other nonresidential uses for overflow parking for trailheads. There was nothing in the LDC addressing this issue.
The Methodist Church had been allowing the use of its parking lot, at the corner of State Route 179 and Indian Cliffs Drive, to those seeking parking for nearby trailheads, specifically Cathedral Rock Trail off of Back O’ Beyond. The church had placed a donation box on site with funds being donated to the Red Rock Trail Fund, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that maintains local trails.
However, after receiving complaints from nearby residents of both Indian Cliffs and the Back O’ Beyond subdivisions, the church received a letter from the city stating that use for overflow trailhead parking on its lot had to cease.
The city also installed No Parking signs along Indian Cliffs Drive.
“The reason is, the pavement width is so narrow, if a vehicle is on the pavement they’d be violating the requirement to maintain a 20-foot width,” City Engineer Andy Dickey said after the meeting. He added that the Methodist Church has put up an A-frame sign in its driveway stating there’s no parking per order of the city of Sedona.
According to Senior Planner Mike Raber, city staff had originally proposed that a church could use its parking as an “accessory use” for spillover trailhead parking. This would mean that any church could do this without any further review. However, the commission recommended that a Conditional Use Permit be required instead, so that if a church wanted to use its lot for trailhead parking, it would need to apply for a CUP, which includes a staff review and public hearing with the Planning and Zoning Commission.
A decision would then be made by the commission, which could include specific conditions for the parking and a duration in which the CUP would be in place.
While members of the commission expressed concern about the issues brought forward by the Indian Cliffs residents, they felt this issue should be addressed on a case-by-case basis.
“I’m in favor of this language moving forward, but I want to make sure that a CUP is absolutely required,” Commissioner Pete Furman said. “Personally, my list of CUP conditions will be long in this case.”
Chairwoman Kathy Levin said the city has been aware of the negative side effects of overflow parking at the Sedona United Methodist Church, saying that while attempting to address one problem, it’s causing another.
“That doesn’t mean it would be the same for another church in another location,” she said.
