When someone mentions “short-term vacation rentals,” it conjures up a variety of thoughts and emotions among residents.
While the practice has been legal for more than four years since the passage of Senate Bill 1350, its impact on the Sedona housing market — and thus a domino effect within the Verde Valley as rental prices climb — is undeniable.
To provide the public with as much accurate information as possible, a forum on the topic has been set for Wednesday, Sept. 22, from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Sedona campus of Yavapai College.
This event is co-sponsored by the Sedona Lodging Council and the Sedona Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Bureau. Chamber Board President Al Comello said it’s important to get the facts out to the public on this topic.
“I know the chamber and the city are focused on making strategic decisions, which really do address issues such as traffic, trailhead overcrowding, and the affects of hundreds of homes becoming hotels,” he said.
“This forum will bring facts to the table on short-term rental lodging so we can all understand this new challenge. It is not a complaint session, but rather an opportunity to clear up any misperceptions and hopefully bring new facts to the forefront.”
Presenters will include City Manager Karen Osburn, City Attorney Kurt Christianson, Chamber President and CEO Candace Carr Strauss and Lodging Council President Steve Segner. Andrea Christelle will moderate.
“Despite short-term vacation rentals being such a hot topic in Sedona in recent years, there is still much misunderstanding about the city’s authority to regulate them,” Osburn said. “I plan to provide information about the city’s regulatory authority — and lack thereof — and what things we are currently doing to track and manage short-term vacation rentals.”
Segner stated that this forum is not a “complaint” session, but rather a factual study of short-term rental lodging as an ever present reality of the Sedona area and needs to be understood from a fact-based analysis, not an emotional position.
Presentations will be followed by an open community dialog. The agenda of the forum is published on SedonaLodgingCouncil.com along with a no-cost signup for attendance at the forum.
For those wishing to view via Zoom, go to us02web.zoom.us/j/85078897390.
