By Craig Swanson
Trustee, Keep Sedona Beautiful
Sedona AZ (November 22, 2019) – Our area faces the prospect of having two separate mega-projects being developed just west of Page Springs Road off of State Route 89A, between Cornville and Sedona. Developing either parcel as proposed will require a rezoning from RCU-2A (Residential; Rural) to PAD (Planned Area Development).
The Spring Creek Ranch proposal envisions 3,100 units/pads. The developer states that this is “proposed as a 282 acre master-planned community which will include approximately 1900 Manufactured Home (“MH”) lots, 600 Recreational Vehicle (“RV”) pads, 400 Rental Units, and a 200 Unit Assisted Living facility … supplemented by various structures offering community amenities, including retail, storage, fitness, restaurants, etc.” While residents at Spring Creek Ranch will purchase their MH units, the land will be owned by the developer. Residents will rent space at a monthly fee expected to start at about $700.
The developer of the second proposal, Villa Bellaggio, envisions nearly 2,000 units, as well as 6 artificial lakes, shops, restaurants, a winery, and other amenities. In addition, the developer has requested a variance that would allow any structure to be up to 5 stories. Their request states, “It is our understanding that this letter [the request for variance] offsets our having to specify by parcel any building heights because it applies over the entire PAD/project.”
Together, these two projects would add approximately 6,100 housing units/pads. Assuming an average household size of only 2.0, well under the area’s average of approximately 2.5, this would add over 12,000 people, roughly the population of either Cottonwood or Sedona. At a recent meeting of the Cornville Community Association, all speakers from the 250+ attendees expressed their opposition to these proposals.
Keep Sedona Beautiful (KSB) believes that these proposals cause grave concern: the negative consequences of increasing the area’s population so quickly and dramatically, the ability of the developer to wisely address water usage and sewer processing, and the existence of historic Native American artifacts. KSB is also concerned with the impact of increased human activity on the unique riparian habitat of Spring Creek which flows through both properties, and on the endangered and threatened species that rely on the creek.
We encourage citizens to contact Yavapai County to express their opinion on each of these rezoning requests. The easiest way is to email your comments on each zoning request separately to planning@yavapai.us , clearly referencing the particular project by name. Include your name and address in your email. Without it, your email won’t be included in the record. Yavapai County Planning and Zoning has tentatively scheduled a public meeting for Thursday December 19 at 9:00 AM at 10 S 6th Street in Cottonwood to discuss the Spring Creek Ranch rezoning request. KSB encourages citizens to attend this important hearing.
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6 Comments
Thank you. Letter written, and info passed on to those who might have missed this.
Let me get this straight. Sedona and the surrounding areas has a severe housing shortage, but these proposals to build homes are being rejected out-of-hand by KSB? Those in KSB would rather Airbnb/VRBO to just go away so that no new homes will be needed? This is so absurd it is laughable.
If memory serves me, Keep Sedona Beautiful was the main group who tried very hard to have Sedona named as a National Monument, which would have restricted private property owner’s rights, restricted access to our forests, and removed senior water rights.
Yes, I will write a letter — in favor of this development. Our area is crying for additional homes and this sounds great.
I’m a retired transplant from Seattle. Moved to the area a couple years ago so I can’t honestly “complain” about population growth in the area. Although I did move into an existing home.
My biggest fear is to the sustainability of resources (water especially) to be able to handle this much growth. I’ve heard that people in Phoenix are in charge of the studies of the local aquifers etc. It would be interesting to see to what extent the test wells are actually studied and monitored.and the impact of increased levels of hard metals and chemicals that will occur as water levels drop. Like in most government processes, big money talks. This area is based solely on tourism (besides the cement plant). Sedona itself will implode if it doesn’t strictly regulate growth. I am strongly apposed to these projects without local officials in conjunction with the agency’s they choose to do studies without outside influence before I could support.
Thank you, Mike Trulson
The Spring Creek Ranch proposal envisions 3,100 units/pads. The developer states that this is “proposed as a 282 acre master-planned community which will include approximately 1900 Manufactured Home (“MH”) lots, 600 Recreational Vehicle (“RV”) pads, 400 Rental Units, and a 200 Unit Assisted Living facility … supplemented by various structures offering community amenities, including retail, storage, fitness, restaurants, etc.” While residents at Spring Creek Ranch will purchase their MH units, the land will be owned by the developer. Residents will rent space at a monthly fee expected to start at about $700.
The developer of the second proposal, Villa Bellaggio, envisions nearly 2,000 units, as well as 6 artificial lakes, shops, restaurants, a winery, and other amenities. In addition, the developer has requested a variance that would allow any structure to be up to 5 stories. Their request states, “It is our understanding that this letter [the request for variance] offsets our having to specify by parcel any building heights because it applies over the entire PAD/project.”
Together, these two projects would add approximately 6,100 housing units/pads. Assuming an average household size of only 2.0, well under the area’s average of approximately 2.5, this would add over 12,000 people, roughly the population of either Cottonwood or Sedona. At a recent meeting of the Cornville Community Association, all speakers from the 250+ attendees expressed their opposition to these proposals.
We need more low level housing development slowly as we DO NOT HAVE THE INFRASTRUCTURE TO HANDLE a huge influx of people. At present- not enough doctors or hospital space, and probably not enough WATER!! Those in favor will think twice when they turn on the tap to…nothing! It has happened to people with wells around here.
Bad water and air means more cancer and deaths too. Foresight is important, not greed at this time the way it is being reflected on the disasterous national level.
Want more more more? move to L.A. or Vegas!
The conundrum seems to be that people working here cannot afford to buy here in Sedona, so perhaps the thinking is that anything that’s big enough is helpful to this problem. This couldn’t be farther from what we really need: If sustainability is a cornerstone of our marketing strategies, we need contractors and developers who can take an opportunity to build with the entire environment in mind, not just another retiree haven, leaving the environs devastated. Do we really want to be another Phoenix or Los Angeles? I think not.
NO NO NO STOP THESE PLANS NOW