The Sedona City Council started off the 2024 legislative session supporting several bills advocated by the League of Arizona Cities and Towns, as well as a number of nonLeague-affiliated bills about referendums, penalties for disobeying state law and taxes on art.

As of Jan. 24, 864 bills had been introduced in the state House and 299 in the state Senate.

Council Supports

Council members expressed support Jan. 23 for House Bill 2489, sponsored by Rep. Selina Bliss [R-District 1], and Senate Bill 1205, sponsored by Sen. John Kavanagh [R-District 3]. Both bills would allow cities to cap the number of short-term rentals within their boundaries, set minimum distances between STRs and allow cities to shut down preexisting STRs regardless of their exempt status on the grounds of “the public’s health and safety.”

“These are the ones that Scottsdale proposed, we agreed with last summer and now made it forward into two companion bills,” City Attorney Kurt Christianson told the council.

“I heard from somebody, I don’t remember who, that [Senate President] Warren Petersen [R-District 14] says that no bill that proposes caps will be assigned to any committee, ever,” Councilwoman Jessica Williamson said.

Mayor Scott Jablow stated that he had discussed the bills with Kavanagh “and he said ‘yes, that’s correct.’”

“It did sound like Speaker [Ben] Toma [R-District 27] was more open than he has been in the past to some kind of cap, but that’s as far as those conversations have gone,” Christianson said.

Council also expressed support for several similar bills filed by Bliss and others that would likewise increase the city’s ability to restrict vacation rentals, such as HB2220. Christianson additionally mentioned Senate Continuing Resolutions 2014 and 2033, which would repeal SB1350, the short-term rental law passed in 2016, by referring it to the electorate.

Also receiving city council approval were:

• HB2132, which would eliminate the requirement for the city to conduct a referendum to sell any municipal property valued at more than $1.5 million but less than $15 million.
• HB2236, which would repeal SB1487, a bill that allows any legislator to request the Attorney General’s Office to investigate whether county or municipal ordinances violate state law, and, if the offending government does not adjust the ordinance within 30 days, withhold state shared revenues. “Sedona’s had two [complaints] filed against it in the short history of this bill being in place,” Christianson said. One in 2018 by a Peoria lawmaker was withdrawn and the other, by a Yuma lawmaker in 2016, resulted in Sedona nullifying its short-term rental ban. “It also repeals all the language allowing the treasurer to withhold taxes or fees from counties and cities,” Christianson said. “Isn’t this a dead-on-arrival bill?” Councilman Brian Fultz asked. “It flies completely in the face of seizing local control that the state legislature loves to act upon.” “I would surmise it doesn’t have a lot of chance of passing this legislative session,” Christianson replied.
• HB2832, which Christianson said would “close that loophole” that allows art purchasers and galleries to reduce their sales tax by having a gallery ship a piece directly to a customer’s home.

Council Opposes

Council members also directed city staff to express the city’s opposition to a number of other pieces of proposed legislation:

• HB2125 would increase the proportion of property owners required to agree to annexation by a city from 50% of those being annexed to 60%.
• HB2120 would prevent cities from ever reducing their police budgets. “It’s an anti-local control bill,” Councilwoman Kathy Kinsella said.
• HB2261 would prohibit cities from requiring more than one parking space per residential dwelling unit as a condition of obtaining a building permit. Christianson noted that Sedona’s current codes may require additional spaces depending on the size of a house.
• HB2275 would require cities and counties to obtain gubernatorial and legislative approval of any settlement agreement costing more than $1 million.
• HB2303 would require cities to allow duplexes, triplexes, quad-plexes, cottage clusters and townhouses in all areas zoned residential. “I actually support doing this, but this takes away local control, and I’m opposed to that, so I would oppose this bill,” Williamson said. Fultz suggested that the city might be able to negotiate passage of a bill allowing it to cap STR numbers in exchange for supporting HB2303. “Would you horse-trade for that?” he asked his colleagues. “The devil’s in the details,” Kinsella said.
• HB2570 and SB1112 would prohibit cities from interfering with “a home buyer’s right to choose the features, amenities, structure, floor plan and interior and exterior design of a home” or requiring fences or walls. In the case of cities with a population of more than 50,000, it would abolish maximum and minimum lot sizes, minimum home sizes and any setback requirements greater than five feet.
• HCR2023 and SCR1006 would allow property owners to claim property tax refunds as compensation for a reduction in value of their property caused by illegal camping or panhandling.
• SB1005 would prohibit public bodies from spending money on or requiring employees to take diversity, equity and inclusion training.
• SB1052 would increase the weight limit for off-highway vehicles from 2,500 pounds to 3,500 pounds. The bill has already passed out of committee by a 6-1 vote.
• SB1056 would require cities and counties to approve new taxes or fee increases with at least a twothirds majority vote of the governing body.

‘Indifferent’

Christianson said he was “indifferent” to HB2593, which would remove the legal requirement that custodians of public records furnish copies of those records “promptly.”

“I kind of think this is a good idea,” Williamson said.

“I’m concerned that this one will limit the public’s access to information,” Kinsella said. “Removing the requirement to comply could be misused … I oppose this.”

Council eventually decided to take no position on the bill.

In the Running

Other bills of potential interest to Sedona residents include:

• HB2032: Excludes school blueprints from public records.
• HB2096: Prohibits counties from requiring building permits for owner-built single-family homes of less than 600 square feet.
• HB2147: Confirms First Amendment protections for student journalists and school-sponsored media.
• HB2176: Prohibits sale of any Arizona land to a foreign government or its agent.
• HB2222: Bans private firearms sales.
• HB2241: Classifies possession of a depiction of interspecies sex as itself an act of interspecies sex.
• HB2292: Increases the state minimum wage to $15 per hour as of Jan. 1, 2025.
• HB2301: Prohibits landlords from evicting tenants on the basis of marijuana use, which was legalized for adults over 21 in 2020.
• HB2361: Makes it easier for state officials to put children into protective custody of a relative via a voluntary agreement between the parent or guardian, state official and the relative before a custody hearing.
• HB2477: Names Pluto the official state planet.
• HB2672: Increases the state minimum wage to $18 per hour as of Jan. 1, 2025.
• SB1003: Bans red light cameras.
• SB1189: Prohibits cities and counties from banning gun shows.
• SB1220: Bans the sale and use of fireworks on May 4 and Diwali, but would allow them “as part of an established religious ceremony.”