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Sedona City Manager Ignoring Parking Hazard

Sedona AZ (April 2, 2018) – The following is a letter to the SedonaEye.com editor:

Editor:

Have you seen the city’s new Soldiers Pass parking lot? It hasn’t cost us taxpayers a single cent. YET !

Here’s the background.

Soldier Pass Trail is a 4.1 mile moderately trafficked loop trail located near Sedona, Arizona that features a river and is rated as moderate. The trail offers a number of activity options and is accessible year-round. Dogs are also able to use this trail but must be kept on leash.

Since the parking lot at the U.S. Forest Service Soldier Pass trail head was always overloaded, those forest trail hikers reacted and instead began parking their cars near the intersection of Soldier Pass Road and Rim Shadows to then walk only a short distance to this trail head. Some of these cars even parked on the road pavement edge – hardly any shoulder space available. This not only created a danger to normal traffic, but also to anyone entering and exiting the cars. That is apparently when the city decided to install signage in this area stating that no parking was allowed with warnings that violator’s cars would be towed away with recapture at the owner’s expense. Considering the hazards that was a very good decision. At least it seemed so.

What ensued was that the trail hiker crowd decided they had another option – and that was to walk a bit farther by parking their cars further away and east of the forbidden zone on Soldier Pass. As before they squeezed tightly in alongside the road in the same unsafe manner. What’s worse here is that some parking is perpendicular parking with zero sighting for oncoming traffic particularly when backing out onto Soldiers Pass Road. Also this new location has many sharp curves with poor line of sight for oncoming traffic for them to be aware of the potential trouble with the parked cars.

When now presented with this new, but even more, hazardous parking how did our city respond to a local engineer’s warning about the situation which they received?

Justin Clifton was hired to be Sedona AZ city manager March of 2015.

The city manager (Justin Clifton) did so with a written explanation of their examination of these parking conditions and their past unsatisfactory experience resolving such matters. He revealed the frustration the city encounters in choosing which options they have to solve this kind of street parking problem. Maybe this is why nothing has been done with this new hazard situation.

What’s real is the attraction to hiking our forest trails, coupled with more hikers from our resident and tourist populations. What’s also real is my civil engineering degree, professional engineers licenses, and a 28 year employment associated with the highway construction and design business.

Returning to the word ” YET “ found above. When ( not if ) someone is hurt or even killed in a traffic mishap this could easily lead into a very nasty situation for the city.

So why doesn’t our city manager recognize the only real and most important factors: saving a life and potential litigation costs?

Forget all his excuses or the hindrances he cited. Install no parking signage along the entire run of Soldiers Pass roadway. Simply make the only right decision – no parking – as the city did for the Soldier Pass road prohibited zone.

John Roberts
Sedona AZ

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18 Comments

  1. HikerBoy. says:

    Wrong. Just another NIMBY Sedona moron, complains about his kingdom.

  2. Tony Tonsich says:

    This is another example of the town being run for tourists and tourist businesses.

    A better solution than no parking signs is a sign, parking for residents and guests only. A no parking sign does not allow your guests to park on the street.

    I was told by a friend that tourists were parking on the no parking side of Smith Road uptown.

  3. Coconino Man says:

    This isn’t up to the city, not its jurisdiction. It’s Coconino National Forest property. It’s up to them what they do with its roads and access. You wanted Red Rock passes, well you got them and the rules that go along with them.

  4. Bizzy Lady says:

    Don’t you get it? Residents don’t matter. You don’t contribute enough. The tourists are the ones paying for everything. I LOVE it this way Justin gave me and my club another 7 years of getting subsidized by YOU the $edona Taxpayer. We’ve gotten almost 9 million in less then 5 years and every year we get more. What a great businesses plan. Kudos to me.

    I deserve more that 55% of the city’s bed tax without any checks or balances and I can thank Justin & mys friend K at city hall. Sedona wouldn’t be here if not for me. Those 30 hotels that collect the bed taxes don’t speak up so yippee for me, me, me, I am so great my memberships only contributes 6.25% of FY2017-18 while you Sedona city coffers pay 93.75% !!!

    Hot man 93.75% of my income is getting paid by the City! I Love $edona.

  5. Mike H says:

    If city management keeps working for business and telling residents there is nothing they can do, we need new city management. Maybe we don’t need a city at all. It seems to be a negative to have a city not a positive.

  6. West sedona resident says:

    @Tony T….once again you have zero idea what your talking about….you are a moron.

    @bizzy lady……let it go ok… as been mentioned here time and time again .. The bed tax money ain’t yours anyway..you are entitled to Zero and your hatred for the money is distributed is irrelevant … let it go and get s life

  7. F.Y.I. says:

    According to a PUBLIC NOTICE in the March 30 RRN, the City Council of the City of Sedona will hold two public hearings on the proposed alternative expenditure limitation –home rule option.

    Tuesday, April 10, 2018, 4:30 p.m.
    Tuesday, April 24, 2018, 4:00 p.m.

  8. Barry (Sedona) says:

    @HikerBoy Your disrespect for his (Roberts) concern is typical of city hall and its mouthpieces of which I suspect you are one.

    Thank you Roberts for bringing this to the rest of our attention; I hiked this trailhead in the past and parked as you said but don’t recall it being dangerous. In fairness and because it’s not a long drive, I’ll drive over and take a look to better understand your letter and concerns. This city needs concerned citizens like you. You’re expertise is valuable to the community while @hikerboy needs to take a hike and not come back. For the life of me I can’t get why Clifton didn’t immediately take action after his response to the first case (unless it was Coconino National Forest that took action and Clifton used their responses as the city’s ?). Might be worth a phone call to see if his hands are tied.

  9. Bizzy Lady says:

    Since I am getting 55% of all city-bed-taxes it is MINE, mine mine, I am hoping the city council will give me more than 55%.

    Mine & my members get to use 2.5 million this year to improve OUR businesses. Thank you city taxpayers! My members save money two ways. They don’t have to advertise while memberships only contributes 6.25% of FY2017-18 and the city coffers subsidize our association over 2.5 million this year.

    Hotels don’t speak up so City Council agree with ME!.I am developing more product development to up those dollars.

    I am very surprised I have gotten away just under 9 million in less than 5 years and every year we will get more Thanks to Justin. I am thrilled the State of Arizona allows the elected officials to do as they please.

    I love $edona.

  10. @ Barry says:

    Probally the reason he didn’t take action cause every day there are probally 10 complaints about nothing from the blowhards on Sedona eye…
    Ever hear of the boy who cried wolf…. boo hoo

  11. Jerry a Solder Pass Neighbor says:

    Mr Roberts, I have to pass that section of road every day and fail to see a true hazard. To me a hazard would be that so many cars park that would hinder a fire truck from traveling down the road. Do you think that this is the only hilly road in the city where there is a line of sight issue? Heck no. In fact almost every street in this city has that problem and thankfully we don’t eliminate on street parking everywhere in the city.

    The reason that my neighbors wanted to remove on street parking in our section was because, many times, there were true safety issue where a fire truck or ambulance would have problems. Heck, even the UPS truck couldn’t get past on some week days.

    I understand that you have an engineering background but in my opinion it sounds more like you are pushing this issue as a personal agenda as opposed to sincere concern for anyone’s safety

  12. @jerry on solders pass says:

    Amen Jerry

    Now we see how the SE regulars operate..
    Complain for the sake of complaining and twist facts ….

  13. @Barry @West Sedona Resident @all says:

    Eye offers a chance to read about local and state and having a say. It means people like Roberts and @Jerry a Solder Pass Neighbor get to say it in a way that lends itself to ideas. @Barry @West Sedona Resident @all You don’t like reading about town go read articles like that your beer might have been recalled???

  14. RET USFS says:

    The $edona Chamber of Commerce is the culprit for all Sedona resident’s traffic woes. I believe some reduction in greed be applied.

  15. Linda, west Sedona says:

    @neighbor. Thanks for your concern. You’re a good neighbor. Sedonans don’t practice that state of positivity much. (There’s a comment there’s negativity in Sedona now. True.) I’m personally worried about crime with tourists. Used to feel safe at night working late and walking around but not any more. (whose creeping around out there?) Parking on roads shoulders should be fine except in maybe a couple places but it’s worth seeing if problem. It’s high desert up here not suburbia.

  16. Ticia Crane. Payson says:

    What’s the number of licensed businesses in the city limits? Unlicensed but grandfathered?

  17. Kathy says:

    Is it just me, or does the (deleted by editor) look like Snidely Whiplash the cartoon villian without the hat and cape?

  18. Sarah, off Dry Creek says:

    Mendez v. Chicago

    Victory on guest privacy claim! Trial court allows some claims to move forward, dismisses others.

    The Goldwater Institute and the Liberty Justice Center filed this case to protect the rights of people who want to offer their private homes to overnight guests, but who have been deprived of the right to do so by a complicated new Chicago ordinance that imposes confusing and unfair new prohibitions on home-sharing.
    Those restrictions hurt communities and violate the constitutional rights of responsible homeowners.

    My home, my castle. Back off Sedona City Council. Three of us live in a house here and its better kept than city hall and we all work hard and are responsible but we didn’t have silver spoon jobs or parents like city hall politicians and employees. Airnb people are like me. They’re not paying Sedona high room rates for lousy spaces!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We LOVE our place and there are dozens like us. Leave us alone!!!!!!!!

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