The Sedona City Council voted 6-1 to approve a zone change to allow a car camp for local homeless workers on part of the Sedona Cultural Park and to authorize the management contracts for the camp during its Tuesday, March 12 meeting. Vice Mayor Holli Ploog was the dissenting vote.

Housing Manager Shannon Boone told the council that city staff have already identified 44 Sedona workers who want to participate in the program and repeated that campers will be required to enter “individual service plans” with the site manager, Verde Valley Homeless Coalition, and to commit to seeking permanent housing.

The city plans to fund the program using an Arizona Department of Housing grant for addressing homelessness.

Boone said that the grant had been awarded competitively based on the city’s program proposal.

Councilwoman Jessica Williamson wanted to confirm that since the state funding would be in the form of reimbursement rather than payment in advance, the city would be able to shut down the camp without notice.

“There’s nothing legally to prevent the city from closing it immediately,” City Attorney Kurt Christianson said. “That’s why they have to leave every morning.”

If the city wanted to redirect the funds toward another program for mitigating homelessness, ADOH would have to take that into account in deciding whether it would continue to provide funding, Boone said.

Councilman Pete Furman asked about the composition of the review panel that would be tasked with deciding on the admission of unemployed or disabled individuals who claimed a connection to Sedona to the camp. Boone replied that “we haven’t established yet who that would be,” but that the panel would probably include herself, housing coordinator Jeanne Frieder and Christianson.

Council reached consensus on modifying the program’s proposed rules to ban smoking completely, require preregistration for users before showing up at the camp, exclude seasonal or “lifestyle” workers who voluntarily choose to live in their vehicles and exclude families whose only connection to the area is having a child enrolled in a Sedona school.

At Furman’s suggestion, the council also directed staff to provide monthly reports on the participants enrolled in the camping program and amended the proposed zone change to limit it to a roughly two-year period running through June 30, 2026. The parcel will revert to the Cultural Park’s original planned development zoning after that date.

During the meeting, Community Development Director Steve Mertes said staff expects to issue a request for proposals to produce a new master plan for the Cultural Park within the next couple of weeks.

Boone also stated that while the city did receive proposals from developers in response to its Oct. 12 RFP for constructing apart-ments on a portion of the Cultural Park site, “none of them had projects they could fund today.”

Twenty-nine residents spoke in opposition to the homeless camp and 11 in support, while five offered comments on the proposal without specifying support or opposition.

Public Support

“If we don’t do anything about this, we are going to wake up with no grocery stores, no gas stations, no drug stores, no plumbers, no electricians, no everything that makes our life comfortable,” Steve Hine said.

“It’s a reasonable short-term use of the property,” former Planning and Zoning Commissioner Lynn Zonakis said.

“The program is well thought-out,” said Craig Swanson, a member of the Tourism Advisory Board and president of the Keep Sedona Beautiful nonprofit. “The requirements for acceptance are thorough.”

“This opportunity helps both working people and business people,” Rev. Anthony Johnson said.

“We’re not talking about encouraging homelessness,” said 31-year-old Jahmaia L. “Jay” Williams, a resident of the Verde Villages outside Cottonwood who works as Director of Hotel Operations for the Flagstaff-based AAA Investments Inc. hospitality company that manages the Wyndham Hotels & Choice Hotels, according to a background search. “We’re talking about assisting members of our community … Cottonwood is not affordable. Cottonwood costs more now than Sedona did when the cost of living became unsustainable.”

Cottonwood City Councilman Stephen DeWillis also spoke in favor.

Public Opposition

The camp is the “right idea, wrong location,” Susan Price said.

“The program will do harm to its participants in a number of ways,” Paul Chevalier, a former Yavapai College Governing Board member said, highlighting the proposed rules on engine use at night and daily departure times. “An elected official in a democracy has a duty to represent the public … there is no doubt in my mind that most people here in Sedona do not favor this Cultural Park program.”

“Perception equals reality,” former Vice Mayor John Martinez said. “The Dells is the place things should be.”

“Common sense tells me the best location for a safe place to park is the Dells,” Mick Tate said. “If the site was being built over in the Chapel area, there would be different thoughts coming from the powers that be.”

“How much resident pushback do you need in order to stop this program?” Cara Kretz asked. “Your words do not hold much trust to the residents at this point.”

Susan Girby characterized the proposal as “a project created and promoted by the city housing manager, who, by the way, doesn’t reside in Sedona.”

“As far as an employer, we would never hire anybody that was living in the car park. They just don’t work out,” said Dave Swartout, who was part of the city’s business consultant group for the project. “City staff seemed to have already made up their mind, and they had all the reasons why it should be a good thing, but from an employer’s standpoint, it’s not going to help us.”

“If you want a homeless car park, put it in the Dells,” Bill Noonan said. “The people of Sedona want the Cultural Park and the amphitheater used as a live entertainment venue … If somebody gave you a grant to burn down the city, would you do that?

“If the city does pass this misbegotten zoning ordinance, I have already prepared, and tomorrow I will file, for a ballot referendum so the people of Sedona can correct that mistake.”

Noonan also described staff’s presentations as “hours of very unhelpful bureaucratic drivel.”

“There is nothing compassionate about helping someone live in their car,” Joetta Winter said. “If you, the council, vote to pass this zoning change … I and many others will do everything we can to replace all of you.”

“There is a perception out there that this is being rammed down our throats,” former Vice Mayor John Bradshaw said. “You guys have done the one thing that no city council and no city staff should ever do, and that’s you woke up the sleeping giant, the citizens of Sedona … Listen to what’s being said tonight and put this on pause.”

“There are two petitions opposed to Safe Place to Park,” Chris Ford said, in reference to two non-official online petitions. “There’s one with 586 verified Sedona signatures and there’s another with 1,498 signatures. They seem to be ignored.”

“If someone can’t afford to live here, let the marketplace determine where that individual should live,” David Wolf said.

Council Comment

“I get the concerns,” Councilman Brian Fultz said, and referenced his recent trip to San Francisco, but added that he would reluctantly support the program because it would provide a “controlled environment.”

Fultz also said that using the Dells for housing would be unrealistic due to the $20 million cost of installing injection wells to dispose of the city’s Grade A treated effluent, which City Manager Karen Osburn confirmed.

“I acknowledge your feelings,” Councilwoman Melissa Dunn said. “However, the way I feel is, if we don’t do this now, there’s never going to be a time for us to do this … probably in the long run [this] is the best thing for our community.”

“This is just a stopgap,” Mayor Scott Jablow said. “In two years, it will be closed.”

“This, in my opinion, is not the best location, but I don’t have an alternative,” Furman said.

“It could not work,” Williamson shrugged. “If it doesn’t, we can stop it easily … I know that people don’t know as much as people on our staff.”

“I do think this is a project that deserves to be tried,” Councilwoman Kathy Kinsella said.

“I think we made some mistakes here,” Ploog said. “I’m sorry that we went in this direction … I look forward to a referendum actually … it’s the only way the people will have a voice. In fact, I will sign the petition.”

If there is a referendum, “I would hope council would put a hold on this project until the voters speak,” Ploog said.

Council then voted 6-1, with Ploog opposed.

The print version of this story originally referred to Lynn Zonakis as a Planning and Zoning commissioner. Zonakis is a former P&Z commissioner who resigned last year.