After three and a half hours of discussion, feel­ings regarding a proposed parking garage in Uptown remained mixed among the members of the Sedona City Council. 

A draft of the final report of the Uptown Sedona Parking Facility Needs, Siting and Design Concept Assessment was presented to council on Tuesday, Dec. 10, by representa­tives from Walter P. Moore Associates. The item was for discussion and direc­tion only, so no action was taken by council. 

Sedona Assistant City Manager and Community Development Director Karen Osburn said the consulting team and city staff met with the Uptown Parking Advisory Committee twice in the course of the study and conducted individual interviews with committee members and other stakeholders. A survey of both Uptown businesses and employees was also conducted to obtain addi­tional information about parking habits and needs. 

The report addresses parking occupancy and demand and recommenda­tions for three potential site alternatives including a recommended site. While the consensus by council was that additional parking was needed, concerns were raised on a potential parking structure. 

Osburn said the possible construction of a new parking garage is also part of the 2017 Transportation Master Plan. As a result, development of a parking garage was included in the “future years” of the Fiscal Years 2020-2029 Capital Improvement Program. In the CIP, $14 million of the transportation sales tax revenue is earmarked for a possible parking facility. 

If the city were to apply the net annual paid parking revenue of $441,000 towards the payment of debt service over 20 years at current interest rates, the city could borrow $6.9 million and use transportation sales tax revenue to fund the balance, a city report states. If that same annual amount was used to make payments over 30 years, the city could borrow $9.1 million and use transporta­tion sales tax to fund the balance. 

Other funding options could also be considered. If in-lieu parking fees are adopted, those proceeds could also be applied toward debt service payments and/or ongoing maintenance of a parking structure. It has also been suggested that a pay-for-parking program could be instituted once a transit system is avail­able to provide an alternative to using a personal vehicle to access Uptown. 

Nine Uptown locations for a possible parking structure were considered but the list was narrowed down to three locations: Forest Road across from Fire Station 4; the existing municipal parking lot off Jordan Road; and the commercial lot at 401 Jordan Road, which is owned by the Sedona Chamber of Commerce. 

Consultants Jaime and Chad Snyder provided council with various render­ings for each site with a list of advan­tages and disadvantage for each. In the end, they recommended a parking garage on Forest Road. Even though the consensus among the council was to hold off on a parking garage, council gave direction to staff to pursue land acquisition on Forest Road as well as conduct an analysis for a surface parking lot there and the associated costs. 

“We wanted to identify places that we felt could increase supply and could potentially provide parking to meet the demands we’re looking at,” Chad Snyder said. “We then wanted to look a little further and investigate each of these sites. We went through that process and narrowed it down to three potential sites based upon the pro and cons of each and narrowed it down from there.” 

The parking study states that parking inventory can be added to the parking system through two methods — surface lots or parking garages. Surface lots provide an economical increase to the parking supply that can easily be rede­veloped at a later time. They could cost approximately $4,500 per space on flat land to construct, excluding the cost of land, and could significantly increase in cost if not on a flat site. 

Surface lots provide a smaller increase to the parking supply than structured parking. Depending on land capacity, the surface lot may not provide the needed amount of parking spaces and multiple lots may be necessary. 

“Additionally, due to the high cost of land, the land in Uptown is better suited for more desirable land uses rather than large or a multitude of small surface lots,” it states. “Also, it is diffi­cult to develop an integrated aesthetic appearance within the surrounding areas through the use of surface lots due to the lack of architectural façade elements that connect the adjacent block faces.” 

The greatest advantage to a struc­tured parking garage is the amount of parking spaces you can achieve on a smaller footprint, compared to surface lots. Instead of having to build multiple surface lots, one area of land can provide the same number of spaces in structured parking. Structured parking also provides a more sustain­able parking solution as the footprint is smaller, allowing for less distur­bance of the surrounding environment. However, garages are more expensive to build, costing $20,000 to $50,000 per space, excluding the cost of land, and require more maintenance and operation costs than surface lots. 

“Uptown is where all the activity is at,” Vice Mayor John Martinez said. “We’re going to need a structure. We’ve got visitors coming and with Maricopa County really increasing, they’re all coming up here. Where to put it? I’m not sure but we’re going to need something.” 

Mayor Sandy Moriarty said she is against a structure — at least for now — for a variety of reasons including the cost. 

“This is a lot of money and transit is going to be a lot of money,” she said. “I don’t think we’re in a position to commit. I do feel we need to buy some property and we can always resell it. I don’t think we need more parking in the north end but the south end needs parking. I’d prefer to see a surface lot, at least to start with.”