At Sedona City Council’s Retreat on Tuesday, Jan. 4, the first day of a three-day meeting, city council members were presented with completed, ongoing and current projects by staff members from each department.
“I want staff to be doing their job as efficiently as they can and us to stay out of their way, basically,” Mayor Sandy Moriarty said. “So, the opportunity to get caught up on where everyone is, always presents a good opportunity.”
Some of the biggest headlines for the day were discussions on transit, traffic projects and affordable housing.
Transit & Traffic
The discussion for traffic centered around transit initiatives for trailhead shuttles and micro-transit. Specifically, trailhead parking lots to be completely closed during the new Sedona Shuttle’s hours of operation Thursdays through Sundays.
According to the city and Sedona Chamber of Commerce, this will create more incentive for tourists to use the shuttles, as well as increased rates for parking when the trailhead lots are open to the public.
Ultimately, council members upheld their belief that transit and micro-transit will help decrease overall traffic in the Sedona areas as tourists — and locals — are left with no other option than to take shuttles to popular hiking spots.
Housing
“I like our priorities. I’m glad that we are going to talk about housing more,” Councilwoman Jessica Williamson said at the Wednesday meeting. “Because that might just be the iffiest in our willingness to move forward.”
Some of the goals outlined included developing ongoing inventories of vacant land suited for workforce housing, exploring potential property acquisition and incentive programs for conversion of short-term rentals into long-term rentals.
Much of this conversation revolved around the city’s partnership with Northern AZ Housing Solutions to help with the down payment assistance program.
Sustainability & Climate Change
The Climate Action Plan was adopted by council in 2021. Discussions centered around how to incorporate this plan into all new building and initiative projects for the city, as well as specific goals such as reducing municipal footprint by purchasing more clean energy through APS, and more studies done for the home energy retrofit project and greenhouse gas inventories.
On Wednesday, Jan. 5, the discussion turned to update council protocols and procedures, as well as council relations. This was all led by Nicole Lance, a professional development trainer with experience working in local government as a city manager.
Vice Mayor Scott Jablow said that as the council continues to make a priority of these items, as well as their new initiatives, it will be a real sign of commitment by giving them space in the budgeting. For an update on Thursday’s discussion on budgeting and new initiatives, check next week’s Sedona Red Rock News.
