Urge Residents to Get Involved in the Legislative Process
By Tommy Acosta
Sedona AZ (November 15, 2019) – At the end of a November 13 community forum at the Oscher Lifelong Learning Institute in Sedona where Sedona city staff presented an update on the city’s options in dealing with the exponentially growing short-term rental phenomena in Sedona, it was obvious.
Barring a comprehensive legislative bill being passed that would give the city some teeth in dealing with the perceived problems associated with short term rentals, there is little that can be done to stem the proliferation.
Assistant City Manager Karen Osborn and City Attorney Robert Pickels addressed a rapt audience of more than 50 concerned citizens, reporting on the current state of the city’s efforts to mitigate the far-reaching consequences of short-term rentals.
Short-term rentals have decimated most of the available long-term rentals in the city as owners rush to cash in by renting space in their homes to tourists looking to save money on lodging.
Reportedly, lack of long-term affordable rentals is preventing younger, less affluent families from living in Sedona, creating a shortage of students.
“We saw last year the school district close a school because enrollment is down so much, Osborn said. “Young families can’t afford to be here. This year for the first time we were not able to put together a pee-wee football league or a little league.”
A trio of legislative bills SB 1350, SB1382 and HB 2672 that allow homeowners to rent their property to visitors and vacationers without undue regulation, have impacted municipalities across Arizona.
Concerns have been expressed that homes rented by short term renters can be turned into “party houses” where renters make excessive noise, disrespect city ordinances and negatively affect quality of life in the communities they rent in.
The trend has caught on like a brushfire. People are illegally converting their garages into space they can rent. Some are putting up tents in the back or front yard and renting them, according to the assistant city manager.
Airbnb.com, a cyber outlet that advertises short-term rentals, even offers staying overnight in a cave, for a price.
Further exacerbating the city’s concerns are investment groups purchasing or building large homes in the community to accommodate short-term renters.
One such home is being built with 10 bathrooms and eight bedrooms, in a neighborhood of much smaller houses.
Running with the ideal that one’s home is their castle, the Republican-dominated state legislature, with the full support of the Goldwater Foundation, a powerful Libertarian organization, stands united and strong against any effort by municipalities to curb or deny the right of homeowners to do as they please with their property.
In 1995 a city ordinance was passed banning short-term rentals.
It was derailed by Senate Bill 1350, which became law in January of 2017.
Presently, the city can hold renters and owners accountable for breaking city laws and ordinances that protect the community but cannot stop the proliferation of the rentals or regulate what goes on inside the rental.
HB 2672 did alleviate some of the city’s concerns by prohibiting short-term rentals from being used for non-residential uses like banquets or events that require licenses.
Owners must also acquire a Transaction Privilege Tax license and provide contact information should emergencies occur.
Owners in violation can also be fined.
During the presentation city representatives assured the public they were working on short-term rentals by gathering as much data as they can and looking to develop a system to coordinate and register the concerns of the public.
They have also been traveling to meetings in Phoenix and sitting with legislators amenable to the city’s desire to better regulate short-term rentals.
At the Oct. 13 presentation the city attorney pointed to the public as the key to getting the attention of the lawmakers that perhaps could result in better legislation.
“There is a role for you to play, if you want to get involved,” he said to the audience. “It’s going to need getting in a car and driving down to Phoenix and attending the meetings when they occur at the capital.”
He said people power makes a difference in getting lawmakers to listen.
“When the residents come down and invest their time to express themselves, especially when there is a high level of passion we know exist, that has an impact on the legislators,” he said. “That’s what they want to hear. You are the people whose votes they are vying for. So they are going to hear what you say. They are going to listen to what you say.”
On October 30, a delegation of Sedona residents attended a joint ad hoc Arizona legislative meeting in Phoenix with Arizona Rep. John Kavanaugh [R-District 23] to discuss short-term rentals.
The city attorney said there would be more two more ad hoc committee meetings announced and he urged the public to attend.
“There is an opportunity now for us to try and accomplish something,” Pickels said of the upcoming ad hoc meetings in Phoenix.
To find out more on upcoming legislative events concerning short-term rentals call 928-204-7200 or email the city attorney at RPickels@sedonaAZ.gov
5 Comments
If I wasn’t able to rent two rooms in my house to part-time renters I would not be able to live in Sedona. I only rent to people who are responsible. I would never let my house become a party home. A man’s home is his castle. Government has its place but it has no right to tell us what to do with our homes.
While we are waiting for the State to reconstruct the STR Laws…The Sedona Council could alleviate its major problems by following a few simple items:
Do not be blinded by the latest sustainable buzz words the Chamber has recently introduced as they are meaningless and have been around for decades.
Reduce or eliminate the pay out funding to the Chamber of $2.4 M/year for significant advertising.
The Chamber will then be self sufficient as it was originally intended.
The results will be less traffic, less STR,and less Homeless.
Seems simple, yet no action
Wonder why?
Thank you for your detailed article Tommy. Sedona intends to create a position to make sure the bed tax is collected. I hope they do more than that and monitor the rentals.
I hope the city enforces existing laws (which is what we are limited to do in response to this legislation) and writes new laws to control this intrusion (such as addressing the investor who is building a house that is more like a motel in a residential neighborhood).
I have six (6) AirBNB’s within one half block of my house.
The city needs to consider the following if it has not done so already:
-occupancy should be based on the number of bedrooms (not living room sleeper sofas)
-parking of ATVs should be in the garage or on the driveway (not on the street)
-parking of ATV trailers should be in the garage or otherwise out of site
-parking of cars and trucks should be limited to four (4) unless using the garage (some-
times between the renters and the guests that they attract it looks like a used car lot)
-owners or their agents should put sticky (boat hull) letters on their garbage cans to let the renter know about pick-up service (EX TAKE TO STREET MONDAY, EX TAKE TO STREET 1st AND 3rd MONDAYS) Garbage cans should only be allowed out up to 48 hours before and put away within 24 hours after pickup by the owners or their agent.
Michael Johnson
As a single Dad, Airbnb has been a Godsend. I converted my two car garage and back porch into an Airbnb unit and added a carport for off-street parking and have been doing Airbnb since SB1350 became legal. With the money I have made, I have been able to quit my second job to stay home with my teenage children, have been able to afford a car for my son, repainted my home in and out, new roof, new landscaping, and new furniture. Last summer I took the first vacation I have had since my wife died of cancer 10 years ago.
My home has never looked so good and my quality of life has vastly improved. I have even started a college fund for the kids — something I have always wanted to do but have never had any extra money for anything. We still watch our spending but we do enjoy going out for dinner on occasion. Besides a taco truck or Burger King, eating in a restaurant was something we reserved for birthdays or other special occasions. I took my kids to Bella Vita the other night and we’ve enjoyed becoming regulars there.
Over ten years ago, Arizona voters enacted the Private Property Rights Protection Act (Proposition 207), which requires state and local government to compensate property owners when regulations diminish their rights and reduce their property values. If SB1350 is repealed, the number of Sedona Airbnb hosts alone could bankrupt the state. Meanwhile, those companies, hotels, and investors who purchase multiple homes in Sedona to create “home hotels” should not be allowed to do so. That was not the intent behind the bill. Perhaps Airbnb and VRBO should make it their rule that only home OWNERS can list on their website, and the bill amended so that the owner or property manager must be onsite for any short term rental. This should reduce the problem of investors and hotels coming into the neighborhood and buying up or building large properties for short-term rentals.
Before SB1350, my neighbors rented their casita out short-term on the down low. I’m not sure where they got their short-term clients, but I have lived in this home for over 15 years and those neighbors, who are now listing on Airbnb, have always rented short term. If SB1350 is repealed, the short-term practice will not go away — as home owners like my neighbors will just go underground and then the city, county, state will get NO tax benefits from the rentals at all, and will make criminals of otherwise law abiding citizens who just want to make a little extra money by putting their private property to work.
Letter to journalist Thomas Acosta: Your report of “home sharing” in Sedona is a great propaganda piece for special interests who milk the people of Sedona for every penny they can hustle. The truth is a majority of home owners of Sedona live from paycheck to paycheck and need the money that short term rental of living space brings to them. The people who are against home sharing are naturally the hotels and other real estate interests. The local Sedona officials who sponsored this event are obviously against home owners and taxpayers.
Many of us purchased our homes when the cost of a home was affordable. Today, the average home in Sedona cost $442,000 compared to the median cost in Arizona of $225,000. For the citizens of Sedona, 90% white, the average household income is $62,000 and the average per capita income is $44,000. Average age is 56. An aging population that is no more than 7 years away from retirement.
Some of us have no mortgage or we are paying for a second mortgage. We are careful with our money and the opportunity to supplement our income is much needed.
But allow me to probe into some of the sweeping statements in your news report that may be misleading to the misinformed or the uninformed. Your newspaper should print how much campaign money each elected official gets from Real Estate interests and that way information can be placed in an understandable context. Really, that’s the core of the story. Special interests do not want to share money with home owners who can rent space.
I am concerned with your sprawling and sensational attacks on the home owners. First, you suggest that 50 people speak for the electorate which they do not. Second, you claim that home sharing is a public danger lurking in the shadows. Your article suggests that corporations are purchasing homes and designing them to have 10 bathrooms, perhaps in hopes of obtaining federal money to temporarily house undocumented families or tourists. You suggest a flood of short term rentals will create public disturbances and disrespect for the law. You claim that home sharing reduces affordable housing stock. You claim that home sharing has reduced the school age population resulting in the closing of a school in Sedona. In sum and substance. You claim that home sharing will change the character of our local communities. You suggest that doom and gloom lurks in the horizon.
There is no objective evidence in your article that anything you claim is true.
The truth of the matter is that home sharing has been going on since the first Bed and Breakfast house was established and since government and private agencies paid for temporary housing for certain protected groups. This leasing arrangement has been going on for over 100 years. The only difference today is our borders are flooded with homeless women and children. These people will either be deported or cared for by the taxpayers. If there is a need for housing why can’t home owners cash in on the gravy? The government will have to spend billions to build housing projects to care for the millions of illegal aliens that seek sanctuary on the United States. In the interim they will need temporary housing which is a very, very lucrative business. Cut the home owners out of the money stream and who will profit? Shucks, the developers and real estate interests want to control private and affordable housing, temporary and permanent.
Someone should start a referendum on the issue. Someone should get the data on the harm, if any, of home sharing. In the meantime, I can only say that if you are going to print articles, then supply facts from a professional City Planner.