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Sedona Community Plan Vision Lacks Vision

 

Eddie S. Maddock, Sedona Eye columnist writes a Community Plan opinion column

TO: Kathy Levin, City of Sedona Associate Planner

FROM:  Eddie S. Maddock, Sedona Registered Voter

 

The reason for this communication is because you were listed as a contact in a recent column in the Sedona Red Rock News relating to the revision process of the Sedona Community Plan.

Within that article, eight specific topics were briefly discussed which “skim the surface” of what you’ve heard via public comment.

Having reviewed the synopsis, it’s apparent by the ambitious “wish lists” that the vision for Sedona is far removed from maintaining status, quoting from the Community Plan Vision Statement, “To be a city that retains its small town character.”

With a current population approximating 10,000, and shrinking according to the last official census, it’s apparent the demographics within our City Limits has changed drastically since the advent of incorporation, at which time local residents clearly defined their vision as protecting our scenic surroundings and, at the same time, striving for that small town quality which was so in keeping with the mission to sustain our visual assets.

Clearly understanding the desire to improve existing pedestrian and vehicular circulation, doesn’t it become somewhat troubling when there’s a call for parking lots and/or garages, expansion of medical care and facilities for elderly and handicapped people, affordable housing, as well as senior housing for independent and assisted living, and more mixed-occupancy housing?

Where will such facilities be built short of going “high-rise” or Sedona acquiring more USFS land? At least such aggressive planning, for certain, will put to rest forever the notion for any part or parcel of Sedona to be designated as a National Scenic Area.

Visitor centers at all three highway gateways to the city, a convention center, and a hostel for backpackers and young tourists all smack of amenities far removed from any reference to the “small town” ambiance which, in the beginning, most assuredly was a prime focus for the Sedona Community Plan. 

Therefore, please consider this a formal request for removal of any and all references within the revised Community Plan to anything even remotely suggesting “a desire to retain a small town character.” Based on the direction the vision planning is now taking, any such suggestions or inferences are simply inappropriate.

Is it within your planning process to be so bold as to suggest the source of funding for these many costly “visions” insofar as acquiring land and subsequent maintenance of the many pricey and, yes, impractical suggestions being thrown out there? Specifically, to cite one, a creekside pathway and adjoining public park proposed to be located along a known existing flood plain?

Here’s another “vision” to chew on.

Local residents, who presently do not frequent uptown, suddenly are inspired to congregate at a municipal park by the creek (in a flood plain) only to add to the already so far unsolvable traffic jam/bottle neck mess created, thank you very much, by guess who?

Sedona planners, that’s who.

A nightmare to exceed all nightmares should be a flash flood or wild fire swooshing down that canyon trapping all, in what is an obvious unique Sedona version of a cul-de-sac. Not to worry, though, because an unhinged “alternate” route proposal will surely go along with the package but at what cost?

Without increased density and substantial proposals for new methods of acquiring revenue, in a population of 10,000 and the current restrictions for an extensive increase to that number, where exactly is this planning destination headed?

Thank you for this opportunity and I submit this with all due respect to those whose opinions differ from my own.

https://sedonaeye.com/sedona-peace-and-harmony-lip-service

Eddie S. Maddock is a City of Sedona Arizona registered voter and guest columnist for SedonaEye.com.
 

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10 Comments

  1. Tom O'Halleran says:

    Eddie:

    Thanks for expressing your views. KSB is in the process of reviewing the proposed Community Plan and will be commenting on it in the near future and will use your comments within our evaluation process.

    Tom

  2. Morgan Fox says:

    Wow Eddie,

    Good job. When I read their ideas, I thought “Who are they kidding?” And “Who are the people trying to put this together?”
    More of the same stuff we just voted against with the election for the City to NOT own 89A and NOT put in medians and junk
    like that.

    Do you think these people have so much time on their hands that they can come up with all these high fa looting ideas?
    Well, at least you’re on it. Small town, my eye. We will never be a small town again and the tourists will always come first for the most part.

  3. Warren says:

    People have clearly lost their minds.

  4. Josiah Fleishman says:

    Comment sent via @SedonaTimes Facebook story: The west part of the city is built for cars not people and bikes? It would be nice to see some changes for the better.

  5. N. Baer says:

    Morgan Fox – Voting against owning SR 89A does NOT guarantee no “medians and junk.” ADOT has been recommending to the City for about 15 years that, according to the number of cars on the roadway, Federal code requires the installation of safety measures, such as “medians.” The reason ADOT has to use Federal regulations is that Arizona is one of four other states without its own codes.

  6. Kathy Levin says:

    Sedona Citizens Steering Committee invites residents to an ice-cream social and community event regarding the Community Plan “Imagine Sedona – 2020 & Beyond” at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, May 14, at West Sedona School, Multi-Purpose/Cafeteria Room, 570 Posse Grounds Road, Sedona AZ 86336. This ice cream social will provide an opportunity to see comments made by fellow residents as well as themes and potential plan alternatives emerging during this phase of the plan update process. You are encouraged to attend and invite friends, neighbors and business colleagues to join in.

    Kathy Levin on behalf of the City of Sedona Community Plan update

  7. Eddie S. Maddock says:

    Having received an e-mail questioning my knowledge of the Community Plan review procedure as well as defending the present intent to maintain a small town character, I feel the need to share my response (with slight modifications) in order to make the purpose of my request to City Planner Kathy Levin perfectly clear:

    “It appears that somewhere along the line I muddied up the waters insofar as my understanding of the community plan revision process. Having been here since the onset of incorporation, I was very familiar with availability of public input in the preliminary stages of forming the first community plan — as well as opportunities for say-so in the community plan updates as required by law and finalized by voter approval.

    THE CITIZEN STEERING COMMITTEE IS JUST THAT . . . IN THE DRIVER’S SEAT as are commissioners selected to be in charge of the various city commissions. (P & Z, Housing, Arts, Budget Oversight, etc.)

    THE PURPOSE OF MY E-MAIL TO KATHY LEVIN WAS TO ADD MY OWN COMMENT FOR A CHANGE TO THE PLAN. . . that being to ELIMINATE ALL REFERENCE WITHIN THE FINAL DOCUMENT TO RETAINING A SMALL TOWN CHARACTER OR ANY OTHER WORDS OR PHRASING INFERRING THAT CONCEPT AS BEING PART OR PARCEL TO THE DOCUMENT.

    My request was substantiated by the reasons I cited in my communication to Ms. Levin which I’d taken from her column in the Red Rock News. Kathy made it quite clear in her first paragraph that more that 1,000 comments had already been gathered, and I simply wanted for my suggestion to be added.

    There’s nothing wrong with the direction this “new” Community Plan is taking except that the concept is far removed from the original intent for Sedona to incorporate in the first place. This, however, has been the case from when timeshares and new housing developments were approved, as well as, additions to existing resorts in favor of providing, among other things, sewer service to all older subdivisions, which to this date has not occurred and it’s likely never will.

    Chalk it up to a change in demographics or better yet the real reason which, IMO, was instant control by developers and manipulations within P & Z and Community Development and, yes, even new commissions such as “housing” practically all of which has resulted in direct opposition to what naive people were led to believe incorporation would protect Sedona against.

    Like it or not, with perhaps a few exceptions, everything else on the table reeks of big town “things” which people apparently miss.

    My solution for them would be go back to what you miss and discontinue destroying Sedona but it “ain’t gonna happen” and saying it isn’t so doesn’t hold water.

    However, if the intent isn’t to destroy our small town character, then I suggest an immediate change of course. Designation for a National Scenic Area has already been compromised.

    Again, this is my opinion.”

  8. Ray Visser says:

    Clearly it is true that the most dangerous members of society are government officials with not enough to do.
    As a previous commentor said, “people have lost their minds”. Just make sure all these ideas come with more property taxes.

  9. Jerry says:

    some interesting points

  10. Henry Twombly says:

    I find it interesting that the Community Plan is exactly what ADOT, the City Council, the Chamber of Commerce want. The only consistent aspect of the plan is that it’s predicated on growth.

    As Eddie pointed out, small town Sedona ain’t going to be much longer.

    Tell me how many residents want to improve pedestrian walkways interconnecting various subdivisions or along the creek? 99% of the pedestrians are uptown.

    How many residents want an uptown parking garage or want to divert traffic around uptown? By the way there’s no way to do it. A bypass up Apple and down Forest is just going to back things up at the light and congest the Hyatt parking lot, as many will take that shortcut.

    How many residents want more parks, especially those roadside crescents that could serve as bus-stops? More and more it becomes obvious that the City Council, the Chamber and the powers that be are geared toward and are representing the tourists (and their needs) more than us, residents. It’s also obvious that they don’t give a hoot about what we residents would prefer.

    Home rule is a big mistake, for they will just spend and spend until they get us in so much debt that they will have to institute a citywide income tax. That’s where we’re headed, unless we vote in people, who truly represent the residents and want to protect the Sedona’s beauty smail-town integrity.

    The current movers and shakers tout that they are listening to the will of the people; but they don’t listen to us. They just do what they want. Instead of building more parks and parking garages, etc, they should reduce our wastewater plant fees, sewer installation fees and pay off that debt…if they were truly serving our interests. Unfortunately pro-growth greed is driving the formation of the community plan, and it doesn’t look good for us taxpayers..

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