SEDONA — The City Council on Tuesday night overturned approval of a proposed resort development along Oak Creek, endorsing a lawsuit filed by residents who say the development would have a negative impact on the environment.
After a roughly six-hour meeting, the project was scrapped in its current form by a 4-3 vote.
“We're very happy with the outcome,” said Mark tenBroek, a member of the Sedona Residents Coalition, one of the groups opposed to the plan. “We thought we had a good chance of winning, but we always thought it would be a very tough decision to win.”
The council heard arguments from developer R.D. Olson, the appeals group and the audience during the sometimes heated meeting.
Two security guards stood near the entrance to the parliament building after repeated disruptions from the audience. As part of their presentation, the RD Olson team showed photos of residential exteriors to prove that high-rise buildings already existed near the river, and one opponent claimed the developers were trespassing.
Sedona Mayor Scott Jabrow repeatedly suggested that spectators should leave if they continued to cause trouble.
City council members who voted to overturn the plan argued that it violated the city's development guidelines and that the proposed Oak Creek Heritage Lodge did not do enough to minimize the environmental impact, address traffic congestion concerns and ensure that emergency vehicles such as fire engines had adequate access to the site.
River coastal areas:Sedona residents protest new resort development near Oak Creek
Opponents argued that the project would harm the ecosystem.
Oak Creek Heritage Lodge is planned for an 11.5-acre site on Schnebly Hill Road, just south of Uptown Sedona along Oak Creek. The project was unanimously approved by the Sedona City Planning and Zoning Commission in April but was challenged by two groups: the Sedona Residents Coalition and Bear Wallows Lane residents.
Opponents argued the development would have a negative impact on the environment around Oak Creek and violate the city's land development regulations.
Residents were concerned about the impact of development on the local ecosystem. The area is riparian, meaning an ecosystem that follows a body of water. Such riparian areas are rare, making up just 0.5 percent of Sedona. The site is a water source for deer, javelinas, coyotes and bobcats, and is designated critical habitat for two endangered species. narrow headed garter snake And that Yellow-billed cuckoo.
“There are significant environmental impacts to basically just scraping away the ground and not protecting the riverside areas, the soil, the native plants and wildlife habitat,” said City Councilman Brian Fultz.
The site is located in the Schnebly Community Focus Area, a nearly 100-acre privately owned area with a set of development goals and guidelines. The Schnebly area calls for development to maintain rural character, support non-residential uses and protect the riverine environment along Oak Creek.
The plans allow for accommodation such as small boutique hotels, bed and breakfasts, cottages, bungalows and cabins, and outline that development must preserve the riverfront corridor with its “hillside, large fields and a range of medium-sized buildings.”
Supporters say the vote reflects emotion rather than facts
Mayor Jablow argued that the development plan does not meet this definition.
The project will include 70 rooms with amenities such as a pool, restaurant, spa, meeting space and employee housing. Similar to the nearby L'Auberge de Sedona resort, the resort will be comprised of a collection of several accommodation buildings with separate structures for amenities.
Some of the buildings in the plans are multiple stories and thousands of square feet.
“It's not a shed and it's not modest from my perspective,” Jabrow said.
Councillors also questioned whether the developer's proposed 90 parking spaces would be spacious enough to accommodate hotel guests, visitors and wedding and event attendees, while also providing adequate access for emergency vehicles.
Traffic near the Oak Creek scene has already become a “horror show” even though there is no emergency, Deputy Mayor Holly Ploog said.
Sedona resident John Martinez, who supported the development, said he felt the City Council's decision was based more on emotion than fact, and that he supports the city Planning and Zoning Commission's decision.
“They have better knowledge than the people in Congress,” he said.
Jabrow said the developers can reapply with a different project, but he expects litigation to follow.
A representative for R.D. Olson declined to comment on the vote.
