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Red Rock Crossing Highway and Bridge to Sedona

Sedona AZ (September 3, 2018) – The following is a letter to the SedonaEye.com editor:

The Red Rock Crossing?

Village of Oak Creek Photo by Bill Kusner

Recently, people have been working very hard behind the scenes, trying to find a new way to look at an “emotional” subject. They want to look at it “scientifically.” OK, scientifically, Red Rock Crossing is an extremely environmentally sensitive area.

Who are these people working very hard behind the scenes?

  • City of Sedona
  • County Supervisor Randy Garrison
  • Yavapai County
  • ADOT
  • Keep Sedona Moving – A couple of guys from the Village, not sure? They have an email, no website, no information on who they are. They have been showing up at local meetings with Supervisor Garrison. That is pretty impressive.

They are approaching the city of Sedona’s self inflicted major traffic problem from the Big Park, Red Rock loop side and the city of Sedona is so interested in having us participate they are paying for the stamps to send a survey to our residents in unincorporated Yavapai County to include Big Park, a designated place that includes Little Park, the Village of Oak Creek, Lee Mountain, etc. and Red Rock loop area. The survey is slated for October.

I am not sure who is designing this survey which can tend (to) be slanted towards a desired outcome, hopefully not the Red Rock News and hopefully not Big Park Regional Coordinating Council.

Sedona Scenic Highway 179 winds through dramatic red rock vistas. The city of Sedona is looking to Yavapai County and the Village of Oak Creek to handle the extra traffic generated by the city of Sedona and its Chamber of Commerce advertising program by destroying some of Big Park’s and Village of Oak Creek red rock vistas to build a highway off SR 179 through its neighborhoods and across environmentally fragile Red Rock Crossing to Red Rock Loop.

Wait a minute, hold on, we do not have a traffic problem here in Big Park except the backed up 179 going to the City of Sedona. The traffic source is the “Y” and a pedestrian crossing so people can enjoy Tlaq North.

Here is the kicker, if the bridge goes in from a scientific angle, Supervisor Garrison has already said we can’t expect all of unincorporated Yavapai County to foot the bill, so we have to decide how we would pay for it?

Why would Big Park and Red Rock loop be expected to foot a dime of the cost? Come back and talk when you have a grant in hand. Big Park does not have a traffic problem.

There is bridge back in that area, but only the chosen are allowed to use it. The Fire Department has been granted passage and now school buses.

This proposed alternate route crossing will divert the city of Sedona’s traffic problem into our neighborhoods. There is no gain for outlying communities. There will just be traffic traveling to the city of Sedona and out.

As far as the hospital angle, the residents of Big Park have a better chance of survival going right to Verde Valley Medical Center in Cottonwood – rather than making a pit stop in Sedona at a cost of about $1000.00 – only then to be sent to Cottonwood anyway.

Why should we run a major traffic vein through our uncrowded neighborhoods to accommodate the reckless development and greed of the City of Sedona? Am I missing something?

Sedona has so many people marching through their trails that are killing the tree roots as well as destroying the sides of the roads to park anywhere. This will happen on Verde Valley School Road and Red Rock loop area. I do not want to be part of Sedona or live with your traffic.

The city of Sedona has many options for the alternate route they need on their own turf. Sleep in the bed you have made. The city needs to stay within their boundaries and create their own alternate route. This is the task of Sedona in Motion.

Plan to keep them out of our neighborhoods. We have our own traffic problems on the horizon.

Protect our neighborhoods, protect the Red Rock Crossing. SAY NO.

Signed,

A Concerned Citizen living in Unincorporated Yavapai County by choice.

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64 Comments

  1. Brian says:

    Voters need to remember when dealing with Yavapai Supervisors that you have more than one. You have to get to their state level bosses. They stay in office until you vote them out. Use your power. Sylvia Allen needs your votes in the next election. Call her now. Look what happened to Thorpe when he disappointed local voters, he might not get back in this time.

    Remember that under the AZ Constitution, counties don’t have charters of their own. Counties are governed by boards of supervisors which act in the capacity of executive authority for the county within the statutes and powers prescribed by Arizona state law. They aren’t independent and have little power and answer to the state level, it’s your state legislature that has the final say and that answers to you. Supervisors get to decide on county MINOR ordinances and county revenue collection issues.

    A BRIDGE IS STATE LEVEL. GO OVER SUPERVISORS TO YOUR STATE OFFICIALS.

  2. GARRISON'S LEGACY says:

    The legacy of Supervisor Garrison is a Marriott/Westin Element 200,000.00 room fee that went to Prescott coffers. The constant reminder of his legacy is the building left behind. I hope it sinks in at some point what he has done to our community when he looks at it.
    They just installed a 50 ft finish piece on the structure most likely to have a brightly lit sign for all of the villagers to look at instead of the night sky.
    It is disgusting.
    The greedy will eventually reap what they sow. That is a non negotiable universal law. No loopholes there.
    Big Park Council, the corrupt little group of self proclaimed representatives for the Village stood by and did nothing.
    The plan for this hotel was worked on since 2016 with NO CITIZEN ENGAGEMENT until the documents were finally seen in 2018.
    Then and only then did the Big Park Council host a few meetings.

    Prescott wants nothing more than to take our nature and sell it off for money as well as our natural resources like water(remember the redistricting when Cornville was pulled out of our district and all the water with it? Yes. Buying ranches to pipe water to the other side of the Mountain so they can continue to build.

    Wake up community, it is called abuse of authority.
    Do not re-elect this man.

  3. Bill says:

    What’s ironic about the Marriott piece of trash? They would have built anything that was mandated by the powers that be or councils. I know. I’m part of that process. Like CVS has to jump through hoops and McDonalds has teal arches, and the Outlets signage had to be redesigned to meet neighborhood input, Marriott would have built a low profile, eco-friendly resort without neon signage if the demand had been there. There was none. So you got schlock VOC. You don’t need a city, you don’t need a council, you don’t need more than what you’ve got. You didn’t use the tools you had because the people don’t care.

  4. Linda, Yavapai County Supervisors Meeting says:

    Want to make your feelings known about past, present and future development? Speak up! Give them letters from your neighbors and HOAs! Learn how to make your voice heard! 11/20/2018 • 9:00 am • 10 South 6th Street Prescott, AZ • Online at : http://www.yavapai.us/ meetings/video-list

  5. @garrison's legacy says:

    Wow doesn’t sound like you Village People are doing so well being represented by the County. Maybe incorporation isn’t such a bad idea after all. Just wait until you see the new 3 story storage facility that’s going to be built NEXT TO the hotel.

  6. Mark Steen says:

    I’d respect comments if they had names. Tech illiterates using @ responses delete or use Anonymous. Trashing candidates is not cool. This is America. Voting booths are for settling disagreements politically. Put the sign down and get a job.

  7. Jan, VOC says:

    No, we don’t need Sedona government to help ruin us like they have done to the city. That new hotel will be an eyesore. Look at Kushner’s photo. Now you won’t see Bell Rock, you will see a cheap Marriott. We do have power over corporations like Marriot because we can never book events at the hotel, we can never refer friends and family, we can use social media to set people straight about it. We can stop inviting the people locally who profited off its build like the engineer living here and the developer and others to events and homes, because they talk out of both sides of their (deleted by editor). We can never take people to eat at Lisa’s place there. We can vote with our wallets. We can demand they adhere to our Dark Skies or we sue them for destroying our quality of life and adversely impacting real estate values with their corporate greed and disregard. We can never book at Marriott’s in other places and make them wish they asked us first before showing up and blasting our rocks and taking our priceless views. It’s all up to you people to decide. I know what I’m doing.

  8. MARRIOTT BOYCOTT says:

    I think this is a GREAT idea. Boycott South into VOC and West into West Sedona.
    Boycott. Send your relatives and friends to Air B and B. Support residential.

  9. steve Segner says:

    Jan, Building on a lot zoned commercial is Greed?
    What about the people like you that own homes build by ” builders” on open grazing land? Greed? It is OK to have home in the hills, golf condos, supermarkets and Dr. Offices… But every thing new is just Greed.
    Marriott does not need one customer dollar from the village, they will bring thousands and thousands of customers to spend in your little, soon to be large village. get over it.

  10. @Steve segner says:

    The lots are RESIDENTIAL.

    (your filled with fake news)

  11. steve Segner says:

    The lots are RESIDENTIAL Yes, and now number of homes per acre? Then you know what they are allowed to do with little county over site.
    All I am saying is do not like 55+ communities, or trailers on rented land . Mixed use is ok by me. But that is just me. you guys go at it.

  12. SAVE THE DATE- NOV 20 says:

    NOV 20-SUPERVISOR MEETING

    Save Our Village
    Dear Concerned Friends & Neighbors
    Organizing Meeting VOC Commercial Developments

    Pre meeting

    Sat. Nov. 17, 2018, 1PM VOC Fire Station Slide Rock
    Blvd.
    Every day we are seeing the view-blocking 3+ story hotel permanently block
    more and more of our iconic vistas. The Sedona Vista Village will soon be
    allowed huge numbers of illuminated signs, and now the Patel group has filed
    their permit application for a zoning change for another 3-story hotel.

    Our resident’s collective voices need to be heard. We must organize now and
    do what we can to protect and preserve what’s left of our small town character.
    We are meeting to prepare the largest show of opposition we can rally to attend
    the Board of Supervisors 9ammeeting on Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2018
    at 10 South 6th Street, Cottonwood

    This will be our LAST CHANCE to persuade the BOS to
    deny this massive illuminated signage plan and require the sizes and quantities of illuminated signs be reduced.

    The county and developer have done the bare minimum to satisfy the legal
    requirements to educate the community.
    The county only required one single community participation meeting for
    residents/property owners within a 1,000′ radius of the development (mostly
    commercial and rental housing. )
    The proposed Master Sign Program (MSP) requests approval for a total of 42
    signs, of which 35 are illuminated. Of these, there are 28 tenant signs for 16
    separate businesses.
    The signage square footage, and multiple signs for most
    of the individual businesses exceeds the current sign code allowances significan
    tly – with more illuminated signs than have ever been installed there.

    We were very pleased to have over 60 people attend a
    n informational meeting this week that County held. This was
    accomplished with short notice and no advertising or announcement signage
    from the county.

    Attendees learned how flawed the review process has been, including voting to
    approve the Amended retail center signage plan the same day it was received.

    We need to ask how this signage plan:
    *Aligns with the county use permit guidelines ”
    that any structure or use
    requested will not be detrimental to persons or property in the vicinity

    *How this signage plan
    supports maintaining the character of our small
    town, dark sky atmosphere
    .
    This is our final chance to stop the implementation of standards that don’t align
    with the small town character of the VOC, nor with the
    covenants made for
    requirements outlined in the All American Road Corridor Management Plan for
    future development along Hwy 179 and has left the community completely out of
    the process.
    Fully realizing the county is under no legal requirement, they did promise to work
    in partnership utilizing the All American Road guidelines for future development
    projects. This alignment is absent from the developer and the county. They
    seem not to know or care what the All American Road and those standards
    means to us.
    There must be a balance that protects, preserves and allows responsible
    promotion for mutually beneficial commercial development without
    sacrificing the character and iconic vistas of our
    small town.

    Information was prepared in cooperation with concerned VOC/Big Park residents and
    with Neighbors Preserving Our Scenic Legacy.
    —————————————————
    —————————————————
    —-
    If you have comments and can’t attend, send them via email.
    Comments to the county
    Board of Supervisors are needed ASAP prior to the 11/20/2018 BOS Meeting.
    Please submit your opposition for this use permit request and ask that your letter of opposition be included in P&Z Commissioner packets, and Board of Supervisor Packets
    for review & placed in the public record.

    Area 3 Supervisor Randy Garrison
    Email
    randy.garrison@yavapai.us
    & leah.genovese@yavapai.us.
    cc:
    web.bos.district1@yavapai.us
    ,
    web.bos.district2@yavapai.us
    ,
    web.bos.district3@yavap
    ai.us
    ,
    web.bos.district4@yavapai.us
    ,
    web.bos.district5@yavapai.us

    Yavapai County Cottonwood Annex, 10 South 6th Street, Cottonwood, AZ 86326
    Reference PROJECT: Sedona Vista Village Amended Master Sign Program
    Site address: SW Corner of Hwy 179 & Jacks Canyon Rd.
    APN: 405-41-077M HA#: H18028
    ###
    BE THERE!!!!!!

  13. Save my neighborhood says:

    What happened at the meeting?

  14. America Must Be Protected By Us Always says:

    Happy Thanksgiving. May your blessings be many and your thankfulness great.

    For some added inspiration for why today, why America, why we stand together under the Statue of Liberty pledging liberty and justice for all then enjoy listening to “My Beautiful America” by Charlie Daniels.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxi7bL53eqg&feature=youtu.be

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