The saga of “As the Water Turns” continues.
It’s been three years since the city approved a Conditional Use Permit request from Arizona Water Co. to construct an underground 1.5-million-gallon water tank near the intersection of State Route 179 and Mallard Drive.
Part-time Sedona resident Vincent McGeary filed an appeal with the city by attorney and from there the matter has gone through the courts, back to the city and could end up within the court system once again.
In January 2019, Sedona City Council heard that appeal regarding the construction of the water tank and voted to uphold the Planning and Zoning Commission’s decision, thus denying McGeary’s appeal.
McGeary argued that the scale of the proposed water tank as presented by the applicant was “industrial,” with a “chemical storage and feed system,” that were not appropriate in a residential neighborhood.
McGeary then filed a special action complaint in the Coconino County Superior Court in which he alleged that the commission and council’s decisions were “arbitrary, capricious or contrary to law.” Nearly two years after the case was fully briefed and submitted to the Superior Court judge for consideration, the court found that there was insufficient information in the record of the commission and council’s proceedings from which to draw any conclusion as to the legal sufficiency of the commission and council’s actions.
The court specifically held that the commission should “explain their factual and legal basis for their decisions approving the subject CUP, to include reference to the applicable [Land Development Code] provisions that they considered and based their decisions upon.”
The court remanded the matter back to the commission and council to make further findings from which any future legal challenge could be objectively analyzed.
In May, the Planning and Zoning Commission again heard the matter and approved the CUP.
On Wednesday, Sept. 28, city council again voted unanimously in favor to approve the CUP.
Following the meeting, City Attorney Kurt Christianson said the issue is not over.
“These [Planning and Zoning and City Council] rehearings were only to comply with the Coconino County Superior Court’s order,” he said. “We will inform the court that we’ve complied with its order and then we will wait for a final ruling. Either party could request to appeal the Superior Court’s final ruling to the Arizona Court of Appeals, but it’s not an automatic appeal anymore. The Court of Appeals would have discretion on whether to hear the dispute or not.”
McGeary was not present at the council meeting but did express his objections in a letter to the city.
In part, he wrote, “I specifically direct your attention to my submission to the [Planning and Zoning] Commission in May of this year, and to the Motion to Enter Final Judgment currently pending before the court. It should be apparent after reading those submissions that this body should reject the proposed action of the commission as unauthorized by the Land Development Code. Likewise, for the reasons stated in those submissions, this body has no authority under any applicable city ordinance or code to hold this hearing or to take further action on the above matter.
“The court’s April 14, 2021, order vacating the CUP and holding that the city failed to make appropriate findings exhausts all authority granted to the city by the people of Sedona on this matter. This body should therefore reject the commission’s actions and terminate any further proceedings.”
