By Steve Segner
Sedona, AZ — This week, Sedona registered voters received something new: a city-issued questionnaire seeking direct input on the future of the Western Gateway.
Each mailing included a QR code linking to a personalized survey. It’s a first for Sedona—and a bold step by the City Council. Rather than relying solely on lengthy public hearings dominated by a few voices, the Council is reaching out to the broader community to ask a simple question: What do you want for this land?
The Western Gateway has become the focus of competing visions.
• One group supports housing, consistent with Sedona’s Community Plan—the main reason the previous council purchased the property ($22 million with cash and a $10 Million bond)
• Another group wants to rebuild the Georgia Frontiere Performing Arts Pavilion, a proposal that would require significant investment and bring increased traffic, noise, and infrastructure demands. (Whether the city would have to invest to make necessary improvements to the property or project has not been determined.)
• A third effort seeks to politicize zoning decisions, attempting to bypass established state and county frameworks and put land-use decisions to a popular vote. In this case, an “initiative” would outlaw housing of any kind on the 41-acre property.
The questionnaire cuts through the noise and asks two clear questions:
1 Should the city support rebuilding an amphitheater at the Western Gateway, knowing it will probably require major public investment and commitment, and increase traffic?
2 Should part of the property be used for much-needed rental housing, as outlined in the Community Plan?
Let’s be clear: the housing question is not tied to outside efforts to upend zoning laws. It simply reflects what Sedona residents already said they wanted when the Community Plan was created.
In addition, the planning work for the Western Gateway area (the former Cultural Park area) explicitly includes housing—especially rental and workforce housing—as a key component of the vision.
And in 2024, the Western Gateway Master Plan was a Public Outreach effort on the 41-acre Cultural Park property, culminating in substantial support for including housing in the property’s ultimate land use.
And that’s the point.
Sedona has already done the work. Many residents expressed the view that housing is a top priority—especially for the workers who keep this town running. Today, our average age continues to climb (now 63) while our workforce shrinks. That imbalance is not sustainable. Many businesses, if not most, suffer from short-staffing issues that require them to make operational compromises to cope with fewer staff than required.
Now the Council is asking: Should we follow resident support for housing initatives —or abandon it in favor of new proposals driven by special interests?
This is how good government is supposed to work. Ask the voters.
Listen to the answer. Then act.
The choice is not complicated.
If we want to preserve Sedona’s character, support our local workforce, and reduce the pressures created by long commutes and labor shortages, then the answer is clear:
I hope we stay the course and support housing.
And once the survey is tallied and housing is supported by most participants, that direction will be 100% confirmed: HOUSING should be part of the Western Gateway’s land use.
And then the city should take the final step—remove the long-abandoned amphitheater. It has lingered long enough, a reminder of a project that never worked. Leaving it standing only invites the next “wouldn’t it be nice” proposal to bring it back.
Sedona doesn’t need another recycled idea from the past.
It needs thoughtful, forward-looking decisions grounded in the will of its residents.
This questionnaire gives us that opportunity.
Let’s answer it—and move on.