It’s nearly the perfect storm — high parking demand, narrow streets and often limited sight distance.

As the number of tourists to Sedona continues to increase, so do the number of complaints to city staff in regard to parking issues near popular trailheads within city limits.

The city began collecting data at several trailheads with Sedona police officers noting the number of cars parked outside of the designated U.S. Forest Service parking areas, primarily on weekends.

During a two-hour presentation on June 15, the Sedona City Council heard from staff and the public regarding a handful of the area’s most popular trailheads.

No action was taken at this time but council directed staff to continue gathering information with the plan of finding a solution or compromise in the near future. And while sympathetic to the concerns of the residents, some on the council pointed out that this is a tourist town and that people have chosen to live near popular trailheads.

“Fortunately, staff saw that this may become an emerging issue, not that it hasn’t been one in the past,” City Manager Justin Clifton said. “So, we started meeting as early as February to discuss being ready. We’ve discussed potential solutions, challenges with those solutions and information we may be lacking.”

According to a city report, the following are concerns and issues facing the city when making any decisions regarding parking at certain trailheads:

• While this issue has likely existed in some form or other for a long time, it appears to have been made worse in recent years as tourism and interest in trails has expanded.
• While impacts from expanded tourism are perceived as negative to some residents, tourism functions as the foundation of the local economy.
• While residents who complain about this issue are clear about the negative impacts, it’s difficult to determine how widespread the issue is.
• Other than anecdotal evidence, there is little objective data that can be used to substantiate which parking problems are worse than others.
• While city staff has collected data at the sites with the highest demand, additional information could help in generated solutions to mitigate negative impacts.
• There is precedent for creating no-parking areas in neighborhoods near trailheads.
• One possible consequence of expanding no-parking areas is relocating parking to other areas also experiencing parking- related issues.
• There are numerous perceived impacts from tourism and numerous stakeholders proposing solutions but little has been done to integrate all of the various problems, solutions and stakeholders together.
• This issue has not been placed on the City Council priority list but is included as a “pending issue.”

Sgt. Stephanie Foley, of the Sedona Police Department, shared unscientific data officers gathered between March and May, focusing primarily from noon to 2 p.m. on weekends at some of the more popular trailheads. Some of the busiest proved to be [with high vehicle counts included outside of designated parking areas] Cathedral trailhead off Back O’ Beyond: 44; Soldier Pass: 55; Dry Creek Vista: 90; and Sugarloaf: 16.

Foley said the numbers ranged greatly during that three-month period. She said officers also determined how many of these vehicles would be in violation. Those figures were relatively low since it is legal to park on city-owned streets.

“We’re not saying this is a complete representation,” Foley said. “That’s really hard without designating someone specifically to those areas each day. The data collected isn’t always going to show the whole picture.”

Residents who spoke had concerns not only about the ever-increasing number of cars parked near the trailheads but had other complaints as well. Some spoke of speeding cars, the amount of trash left behind, damage to the sides of the roadways, emergency vehicle access and excessive noise from trail users early in the morning.

Councilwoman Jessica Williamson said the city needs to find an effective mechanism that can be enforceable when dealing with those parking illegally. She said it makes no sense to install No Parking signs if motorists are going to ignore them. She realizes signs may be their only option but that there also needs to be a happy medium between residents and tourists.

“Ideologically, I agree with what Councilman [John] Martinez has said in the past,” he said. “We are inviting people to Sedona, offering an array of marvelous experiences — none of which they can access on their own since we’re making them no parking because of the impact it’s having on our residents. We can’t sacrifice residents for tourists. There has to be a balance here.”