Yavapai College wants the city of Sedona and Fitch Industries to follow the city's community plans hammered out over the years for the Sedona Cultural Park.

Yavapai College wants the city of Sedona and Fitch Industries to follow the city"s community plans hammered out over the years for the Sedona Cultural Park.

Fitch Industries, which owns the now-defunct cultural park, wants to develop the 44-acre parcel in West Sedona at a higher density with increased commercial development.

Yavapai College says it has a guarantee of parking lots for staff and students.

Fitch Industries wants to "negotiate" the issue.

Visions for the park"s future appear to be on a collision course after representatives of the college and the developer held separate informational meetings for the public last week.

Yavapai College met with the public April 10. Fitch Industries hosted its meeting April 11.

As part of a 127-page presentation, Yavapai College Director of Facilities Management Jo Berger put up a copy of an agreement dated Sept. 10, 1998, that shows that the city of Sedona and the Sedona Cultural Park agreed share the cost of developing and maintaining parking areas.

Berger cited numerous documents to support the college"s contention.

She said that the "college"s purchase of land includes rights to common use areas within the cultural park planned development including parking, roadways,

pedestrian pathways, utilities and lighting."

Additionally, she said documents show there are no fees for use and that maintenance fees are shared by owners.

"These rights run with the land and are binding on

successors and assigns," Berger stated.

"There is no legal agreement for parking or expansion of the college," said Kent Fitch, CEO of Fitch Industries.

Ordinarily the college would be governed in land issues by the Arizona State Board of Directors for Community Colleges. The college sought and received a waiver and placed itself under the protection of the city of Sedona as far as the Sedona Cultural Park is concerned, Berger stated.

Berger presented what many agreed was a thorough history and discussion of the college"s role in Sedona and what the college wants regarding the Sedona Cultural Park and Fitch Industries.

"We made them three proposals to work out a land swap" for parking, Fitch said, and the college "didn"t accept any of them."

"They need it and we are willing to bend over backwards to make sure they get it. I hope we can come to an agreement," Fitch said.

Yavapai College is requesting a comprehensive development review of the 44-acre cultural park as part of Fitch Industries" request for re-zoning.

Berger said she believes that Yavapai College has acted in good faith for almost three decades and it is the one entity that has upheld the original vision of the cultural park.

Fitch said that he is meeting with college officials on Wednesday, April 18, to continue negotiations.

"The Sedona Cultural Park was carved out of [National] Forest lands with a promise to the community that any development would "tread lightly on the land,"" Berger stated.

"The community should have confidence that this land will be protected and held exclusively for community facilities and that it not fall into any other more commercial, private ownership and utilization," Berger quoted from a September 1992 Sedona Community Plan amendment.

"The college did not carve off a piece [0.75 acres] of the 50-acre cultural park," Berger stated. "It bought in to an approved master planned development."

"We bought the 44 acres surrounding their building," Fitch said. "Outside the walls of that building, we own. It is an unusual situation but we didn"t negotiate that. It was years past."

Berger presented information showing that Fitch Industries submitted a request changing the designation from "very low-density residential" to 'planned area.'

She stated that the city staff recommended denial and that Sedona Planning & Zoning Commission voted to deny the request at the time.

However, the City Council voted to approve the zoning change with 10 conditions including "maintenance of adequate parking adjacent to Yavapai College to accommodate their needs."

The city also wants Fitch Industries to "maintain a focus on arts, cultural and educational components with commercial uses developed commensurate with the phasing of these components and commercial development on a scale compatible with an intimate village environment."

Yavapai College wants

• To continue to provide high-quality public education programs to residents living in Greater Sedona.
• To ensure adequate parking, circulation and pedestrian access for students.
• To protect the investment of taxpayer dollars.
• To expand on its 5-acre parcel, purchased next to the original 44-acre Sedona Cultural Park as the need arises.
• To participate in a comprehensive area review organized by city staff to maximize community benefits and uses within the 44-acre cultural park development.

"I do agree that they have a stake in what happens to the whole property," Fitch said.

Yavapai College"s Sedona Center is currently serving 471 credit students and 300 Osher Lifelong Learning Institute students.

After Berger"s presentation, Susan Sammarco, director of the office of public information, presented a statement by Yavapai College President James Horton.

"The district board of governors instructed staff to continue negotiating with Fitch in good faith. The board also instructed the president and staff to do whatever needs to be done to keep the Sedona campus operating without interruption," Horton stated.