The city of Sedona’s Citizen Work Group on Housing presented its findings at a Plan Sedona community meeting on Wednesday, April 19, at West Sedona School as part of the Sedona Community Plan update process.

The city had described the event in a press release as an opportunity for residents to “share their thoughts on why diverse housing is important for Sedona.” “We want your opinion,” Mayor Scott Jablow told the crowd at the start of the meeting.

“We’re holding this meeting not just to give you information, but to hear you and hear what you have to say. It’s a two-way street.”

“Tonight you’re here to share your vision for the future of Sedona, and I hope you’re deciding that affordable housing needs to be a part of the community plan,” City Housing Manager Shannon Boone instructed the audience before reminding them that affordable housing is housing that costs no more than 30% of a household’s income. For Sedona, that would be $832 per month for an individual and $1,473 per month for a household of two.

“We’re here tonight mostly to look at this development policy and zoning codes,” Boone continued. “We need to change our zoning codes to allow more diverse housing types … If we allow multi-family development by right, developers might build short-term rental condos, not affordable apartments. The zoning change process is a chance to ensure we don’t get short-term rentals, not a chance for the community to come out and oppose what may well be in its best interest.”

Work Group Findings

“We’re getting close to Sun City with tourists,” work group member Linda Martinez told the crowd, pointing out that the median age in Sedona is now 61, up from 54 in 2010, while the Verde Valley has lost 2,435 people aged 15 to 59 in the last decade.

“There’s some excellent ideas I’d like to share with you tonight, and then you will tell us what you’re willing to have in Sedona,” Martinez added. “Some of you are going to want to throw eggs at me. You’re going to be horrified with what I propose. Others will say, ‘It’s about time.’”

Martinez presented six possible strategies that the group suggested could be applied in select areas to improve Sedona’s housing situation, including reconsidering maximum building heights, smaller lot sizes or splitting lots, flexible design standards, more diverse housing types, creating redevelopment zones and up-zoning existing districts.

“There are some communities in Arizona — Prescott, Bisbee, downtown Flagstaff — I’m not talking about all of those big apartment complexes — that have exciting, vibrant downtowns or main streets,” Martinez said, proposing the possibility of a mixed-use main street district with two- or three-story buildings. “If we do go up a little bit, or a moderate amount, we can have less sprawl and more open spaces that we all love. Certainly more walkable … It can create a vibrant community character — coffee shops, cafes, you know the drill.”

Next, Martinez addressed the possibility of lot splits and doubling the housing utility of existing lots with accessory dwelling units.

“In Sedona, we have a lot of space around our homes,” she said. “We like that. But we cannot create workforce housing that way. A lot of communities are looking at this.”

“We can also consider flexible design standards, such as parking,” Martinez went on. “Do we really need so many parking spaces?” She said the need for parking spaces would diminish with increasing use of shared bicycles and shared cars.

Martinez described the option of creating more diverse housing options as necessitating “smaller, denser homes, own or rent, small lots, walkable to amenities.”

“They can be mixed-use, pedestrian-only, have shared community spaces, community gardens and spaces for the arts, concerts,” Martinez said. “They’re more sustainable by design and scale … We talked about cluster cottages, smaller homes that can be built around this cluster with a central gathering space.”

She mentioned retirement communities, co-housing and duplexes as other possibilities for housing diversification, or, to reduce costs, even prefabricated homes or entire apartment buildings. “They build all of it, with the windows, and ship it to your community where it is assembled … There are some great things coming out in prefab.”

“What I like is that we have options,” Martinez said. “Retired residents can downsize. It can be a starter home for young people. It’s more affordable. It’s more sustainable. There are shared rides. Become more of a community. It’s more vibrant. It’s the way things are going. And we can preserve more open space.”

“Without up-zoning, we have a very limited ability to accommodate our housing demands,” Martinez said. “It has a lower carbon footprint. There’s a smaller size of the units, meaning that there’s a reduced need for heating and cooling. It’s more efficient — more walkable, helps reduce traffic. It can increase discretionary spending of the people who live there and increase social equality.”

“Housing is within our control, but not with our current zoning and land use,” Martinez finished. “The two do not connect.”

Although the themes of smaller buildings, smaller lot sizes, mixed uses and walkability were consistent throughout the work group’s recommendations, these did not include any specific suggestions as to which codes the city needs to repeal in order to enable these types of housing development.

Public Perspectives

Following Martinez’s presentation of the work group’s findings, city staff solicited audience answers to the question “Why is it important to have affordable housing in Sedona?” and encouraged attendees to form small groups to discuss strategies for achieving this kind of housing.

The resulting suggestions and comments included:

• “Realistic pathways to ownership for the workforce.”
• “We need ecological housing, too.”
• “Are employers willing to increase wages to offset the cost of housing?”
• “Without affordable housing the community will decline due to social stratification.”
• “Create a community where everyone can livework-play rather than spend the day commuting.”
• “If Sedona is not to become a beautiful place where people with money come to die, we must address housing costs for younger people.”
• “Meet with other cities and the Arizona legislature to discuss changes to STR legislation. Addendum to original bill: Owner must live on the property.”
• “Select areas without a viewshed. Reconsider land exchange with deed restrictions. Incentivize deed restrictions — property tax or compensation.”
• “I can buy two tiny houses and have them delivered next week.”

Sedona’s Housing Budget

As of 2014, Sedona’s housing consisted of:

• 5,326 single-family detached units on 4,513 acres
• 885 multi-family units on 60 acres
• 6,516 total units

The city’s 2021 housing needs assessment found that the total number of units had increased to 6,788. City staff estimate that Sedona is currently lacking 1,620 housing units. Sedona has the space to build or to allow residents to build:

• 470 tiny homes on city-owned land within the city limits, excluding the Sedona Cultural Park
• 150 units in arts villages at the Sedona Cultural Park
• 350 units at the Dells
• 799 units if 15% of single-family parcels are voluntarily split or rezoned to add an ADU
• 1,769 total units