The Sedona Fire District, Arizona State Parks and the city of Sedona are conducting ongoing discussions about SFD’s land needs in Uptown and Oak Creek Canyon.

“The primary reason for us pushing forward is replacing dilapidated and outdated infrastructure and making sure that we have the appropriate equipment and stations that we need to keep serving the community 50 years from now,” SFD Chief Ed Mezulis said. 

In 2017, SFD asked voters for a $17.9 million bond for capital improvements that was rejected by 56%. The bond aimed to replace Station 4 in Uptown and move Station 5 in Oak Creek Canyon. After the vote, SFD began adding to its capital reserve fund, which stood at $1.4 million at the beginning of fiscal year 2024, an increase from $1.2 million during the prior year.

Station 4

SFD Station Number 4, located at 391 Forest Road in Uptown, has a large crack down the center of the engine bay that is absorbing water and staff are concerned about the stem wall on the east side. Mezulis said that the building is settling  and needs drywall work and mitigation measures.

Its size is also an issue. 

“With the growth of the town, adding a bay and moving some apparatus more centrally would be beneficial for us,” Mezulis said. “We haven’t made that determination yet. But that’s something we’re evaluating.”

SFD is also interested in acquiring land west of the station from a private owner who has no intention of selling in order to gain “an appropriate footprint for a modern fire station.”

Additionally, Mezulis expressed hope that surplus land might emerge from the city’s Uptown Parking Garage project, at 430 and 460 Forest Road, which the district could potentially work with the city to utilize for a fire station. There have been no formal discussions of this possibility between the city and the district, although Mezulis has informed the city of SFD’s interest.

“The city had a shift in the traffic flow and parking plan for Uptown, and they own a few properties,” Mezulis said. “I was directed by our board to [work] on getting station [4] going. We identified the need as far back as the ’90s, but we started preparing for it financially in the last 12 to 15 years. It’s just at the point with the feasibility studies that it would be ideal to have additional or a different piece of land [in Uptown].”

While work on the proposed parking garage was suspended last fall, the city is proceeding with a needs assessment and updated siting studies for the site, taking into account transit operations, parking demand and an updated traffic analysis.

The first of these studies, an ongoing parking inventory, is expected to be completed in October.

“The updated siting study was initiated with the first task being the parking inventory and occupancy update,” Sedona Communications and Public Relations Manager Lauren Browne said. “Inventory and occupancy data collection occurred via drone surveys of public and private parking lots and on-street parking of the Y and Uptown areas during spring break on March 12 and 13, and via boots-on-the-ground surveys [on] March 15 and 16.” 

On Friday, June 2, and Saturday, June 3 drone aerial surveys were conducted in the Y and Uptown to capture parking data.

Station 5

SFD Station 5 is located at 3971 SR 89A at a site leased from the Garland family. Due to the lease agreement, SFD is unable to make any major improvements to the property. During public meetings on station needs in 2017, consultants LEA Architects stated that the location is unable to handle a modern fire station.

SFD has been in discussions for years with Arizona State Parks to relocate the station to Slide Rock State Park and Mezulis said putting a plan together to make the relocation happen is one of his highest priorities.

Because only informal discussions have taken place between Arizona State Parks and Trails officials and SFD about relocating Station 5, state officials declined to officially comment.

“[From] evaluating call volume, if we were able to move that station a little bit up the canyon, it would better serve those in the north end of the canyon while continuing to serve those throughout the rest of the canyon,” Mezulis said. “It’d be a better location to move it up and Slide Rock is a halfway point.”

The challenges of a relocation would include finding a way to connect the new site to utilities and would also require approval from the Arizona Department of Transportation to alter the right-of-way to give SFD road access to the station.

“We’re early in the process of discussing what that looks like. There’s been more extensive discussions in the past,” Mezulis said. “ But that was six to eight years ago, and all of the leadership at the park from top down has changed. So it’s kind of a square one moment [for that proposal].”