The Sedona City Council voted unanimously on Oct. 8 to approve a new ordinance giving council the power to impose off-highway vehicle-specific speed limits on city roads.
According to information provided by City Attorney Kurt Christianson, Sedona is now the first and only jurisdiction in Arizona to have adopted an OHV-specific speed limit.
The ordinance, previously discussed on Sept. 10, was written following the submission of a petition signed by 43 Sedona residents requesting that council impose such a limit on the 0.7- mile Morgan Road in order to reduce noise from passing vehicles. The petition was organized by Carl Jackson.
Christianson informed council that none of the details of the proposed ordinance had changed since its first reading. As the ordinance would take effect after 30 days, Christianson noted that a resolution enacting the proposed lower speed limit of 15 mph for OHVs, as opposed to the 25 mph limit for all other vehicles, on Morgan Road only, could be placed on council’s agenda no sooner than the upcoming Nov. 12 meeting.
To prepare to enforce the ordinance, Christianson said, the Sedona Police Department would establish extra patrols on Morgan Road, while the public works department was planning to support the noise reduction effort by posting at least one visual sign forbidding loud music from OHVs.
“After that we would just monitor with the neighborhood,” Christianson said, and suggested that council wait until after spring break next year to decide whether or not to extend the ordinance’s application “to see if the lower speed limits have an effect or not.”
“I don’t know how comfortable I am on this coming forward on a consent agenda for Morgan Road,” Councilwoman Kathy Kinsella said.
“It, of course, can be pulled from consent,” Christianson said.
“I think I’m comfortable with the idea of it being on consent,” Councilman Pete Furman said.
“We had an exhaustive conversation about it,” outgoing Councilwoman Jessica Williamson said, and then added, “This one instance is why we’re seeing this ordinance now.”
“Our focus for this ordinance has always been around the resolution, around the noise ordinance posting,” Councilwoman Melissa Dunn said, adding that she would rather “leave it up to the folks who have to live there to decide if they want to have a broader discussion.”
In a departure from its earlier OHV discussions, the council passed the ordinance in nine minutes. No member from the public spoke in favor or against.
During the first reading of the proposed ordinance, council members had expressed interest in extending its provisions to Dry Creek Road after first enforcing it on Morgan Road.
