Sedona’s local government declared a housing emergency late last year after a large number of short-term rentals popped up in the world-famous hiking town. Since then, the number of vacation rentals has only increased.

Sedona Mayor Scott Jabrow has a message for both prospective out-of-town landlords operating short-term rentals and the state government.

“Look elsewhere. There are too many in Sedona,” he said.

Last year, 16% of the city’s housing stock was vacation rentals. So far this year, it’s 18%. Jaburo says more than one in three people, or 35%, live in his area.

He wants to pressure the state to allow Sedona to limit vacation rentals. Senate Bill 1350 prohibits cities from doing much to stop them.

“When 1350 was first enacted, a lot of affordable housing was converted to short-term rentals, and that situation continues to this day,” he said.

Mr. Jaburo says another challenge is rising housing prices. He said investors are outnumbering individual buyers looking to move to Sedona.