It’s with great interest and encouragement I learned of the proposal to create a new “citizen advisory committee” to direct and oversee the revision of the Sedona Community Plan.
As a reminder, and as the name implies, this document is a community plan. Therefore, why shouldn’t the update be done by the community instead of the same select few who frequently manage to ultimately manipulate and change the plan anyway?
As the election indicated, the voting trend of the majority of Sedona voters reflected the desire for “change” which would encompass control of our destiny among other things.
The original CP was a work in progress with strong public participation, including all-day workshops, resulting in strict codes relating to height, density, color, and signage to mention a few specifics, many of which were soon changed to no longer reflect the will of the people.The concept of “supply and demand” was also a major topic which to date, and even prior to the downturn in the economy, was not well acknowledged by our city planners judging by the number of vacant commercial rentals in Sedona.
This is an opportunity to reinforce the current optimism for good will and cooperation that was resurrected during the recent election. We, the people, spoke. Please continue to hear us.
Sincerely,
Eddie S. Maddock, Sedona AZ
Thank You Eddie for speaking up on this topic. As a Resident and Home Owner in Sedona, I would like to have My opinions on the New Community Plan considered. And, I don’t believe I’m the only one that feels this way.
I attended one of the ‘Overview Presentations’ on the update to the Community Plan, and I felt as though it was nothing more then the City to say that They “Had’ a meeting with the Public. I felt as though We were being lead in a direction that suited the Planning and Zoning agenda. And, I won’t be surprised to see later, that We All agreed with what ever They come up with. I still don’t understand why one of the questions at the meeting, was ‘What town do You most like to Vacation at’? The type of town I like to Vacation at, has nothing to do with the type of town I want to live in, and protect.
When and if a ‘Citizen Advisory Committee’ is formed, I would like to be apart of it, and hope Other Residents would join Me. After all, this is Our City of Sedona, and Planning and Zoning work for Us, not Vice Versa.
Since the election of the “new” Council by the majority of Sedona residents, I have learned of two separate incidents of what I term “hijacking the process.” Both occurred at the commission level; Parks and Recreation and Planning and Zoning. I’m certain we all remember how this strategy worked at former City Council meetings. This is how we ended up with the continuous roadway lighting we are still trying to change. These tactics only serve to waste everyone’s time and energy that we could be applying to resolving the City’s problems.
Residents still need to be proactive in response to such power plays. That means we need to be sure to attend these commission meetings, or get together with a group of like-minded residents and send a representative to the meetings.
It is clear that most former “Council” members still have their friends and cohorts sitting on Sedona boards, commissions and working for the City whose agendas have not been altered. Residents who have the capacity and the will to serve need to apply for vacant commission seats.
The message that we as residents need to deliver is that no hijackings of the process will be tolerated. That is the only way we can be sure that our “new” councilors can hear the “will of the people.”
Hi Eddie,
As we started into working on how to make the community plan a more
public process, I learned that state law requires Planning and Zoning to
take the lead role in plan preparation and review. I’m not really happy
with this but law is law. Now we will be working to make the process as
public as possible in addition to their review role. I think you can be
assured this new council will be very much open to much more open and
public approaches than in the past.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Cliff
Editor’s note: (Cliff Hamilton, the Vice Mayor of Sedona City Council)
Eddie,
A proposal from P&Z stemming from a request by Paul Chevalier for a
Citizens Advisory Committee in the Community Plan process will be on the
June 8th Council meeting.
Mike (Mike Ward, Sedona Council member)