Sedona AZ (April 11, 2012) – Article written and submitted by the City of Sedona Arizona.
For generations, Sedonans have worked with intention to create a city that is culturally vibrant, innovative, and beautiful, but also aim to preserve the natural environment. Today, despite these successes, times are tough and resources are scarce. Education, jobs, housing and other issues need attention and there are major challenges on the horizon. To effectively tackle these challenges, Sedona must set a focused, strategic path forward – a path based on clear understanding of conditions, trends, challenges and strengths. Sedona needs a plan that guides the city to build strong partnerships, align resources, encourage diversity, and, be more resilient and accountable. Fortunately enough, Sedona Arizona’s new Community Plan will be targeting these challenges.
As part of the process in creating the Community Plan, Sedona city staff has assembled planning teams to begin working on different ideas for several key areas of the community. These teams are made up of Sedona architects, planning and zoning commissioners, arts and culture commissioners, a parks and recreation commissioner, a housing commissioner, a sustainability commissioner, citizen steering committee members, sustainable building and rain water harvesting professionals, and regenerative ecological design students from the Ecosa Institute in Prescott, Arizona.
The purpose of these planning teams is to put design ideas on paper which stem from over 750 citizen comments that city staff has accrued from various public meetings and workshops over the past year. Over the next months plan alternatives will be developed to address some of the differing priorities and viewpoints expressed in the public comments and to look at viewpoints that may not have been heard. The planning teams will provide planning ideas for several key locations throughout the community and will eventually help illustrate the different Plan alternatives as they are created.
Planning teams meet on a weekly basis in the City of Sedona Community Plan Room (Vista del Norte Building, 1725 west State Highway 89A, Suite D on the corner of S.R. 89A and Northview Road) through the beginning of May 2012. The Plan alternatives will be presented at a series of neighborhood meetings in June 2012. The Sedona community will be asked to find the best parts of each alternative to develop its common vision. Before the end of 2012, the City hopes to create a draft Plan.
Over the next year, as Sedona makes its way into 2013, the draft Plan will be aired publicly before the City Council adopts the Plan and Sedona citizens have the final say by voting on it.
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