Although the Sedona City Council has yet to vote on a new master plan for the Sedona Cultural Park two years after buying it, Sedona residents may now get a vote on the park’s future.

Bill Noonan — who founded the Save the Cultural Park Committee, which led efforts to block city plans to create a car camp for homeless workers at the park in a ballot referendum last year — announced during the Planning and Zoning Commission’s May 20 work session on the new master plan for the Western Gateway that the Save Sedona Committee, a new political action committee, intended to file a ballot initiative to change city code to require the park’s preservation as public space.

The Western Gateway is the city’s name for the 41-acre former Sedona Cultural Park, which the city bought for over $23 million on Nov. 22, 2022.

“There’s a disconnect between the city and the people who live here,” Noonan said after all commissioners, except Vice Chairwoman Charlotte Hosseini, expressed support for building up to approximately 500 units of high-density, primarily market rate housing on the park — not workforce or affordable housing. “Given its importance, I think it would be best to submit the Cultural Park plans to a vote of the people who live here. The city has advised us that it’s not legally possible for them to do that. The good news is that the residents do have the power under the Arizona constitution to circulate a ballot initiative petition, and if we collect enough signatures, we can put an alternative proposal to a vote.”

Initiative Text

The proposed language of the “Sedona Cultural Park Preservation Act” would add Section 12.30.230 to City Code. The act would formally designate the property as a park and recreational facility; require the city to maintain it as a park and recreational facility; require that the city keep the park open to the public for recreation, “including hiking, picnicking and biking as well as cultural activities and venues, including film festivals and theatres, musical and theatrical performances, buildings or structures to house such activities and restaurants and food and drink concessions to serve them”; and “prohibit residential development of any kind or over night camping or sleeping within the Sedona Cultural Park.”

The act would further provide that the city might build or operate — but would not be required to build or operate — venues within the park for recreational and cultural uses. A final provision would require “that this measure, if approved by the voters and thereafter challenged in court, be defended by the city of Sedona.”

The act’s declaration of purpose states that “the people of the city of Sedona find and declare that the Sedona Cultural Park is one of the last great scenic open spaces in the city of Sedona. It has cultural and historical significance and should be preserved as a park and open space for the benefit and enjoyment of the residents of Sedona and those who visit this city. High-density residential use of the Sedona Cultural Park will worsen traffic congestion in Sedona and should be prohibited.”

“My understanding, and it’s not something that I’ve researched a lot, so you can take this with a grain of salt or no, is that zoning by initiative is not allowed in Arizona,” City Attorney Kurt Christianson told the commission with regard to the initiative proposal. “The Arizona Supreme Court has ruled against that many decades ago, I believe. Zone changes are only allowed through ordinance.”

“The city attorney last night mentioned the defense I expected the city to take, namely that an initiative cannot be used to change zoning,” Noonan said on May 21. “The current zoning of the park is planned development — PD, same as it was when it was the Cultural Park. The initiative does not change the zoning. It only amends the city parks and recreation code to create a park within the existing PD zone.”

“I have not seen any proposed initiative language, so my response was just based on Mr. Noonan’s comment at the public meeting, which, unless I misheard, sounded like zoning by initiative to me,” Christianson said on May 22.

Possible July 2026 Vote

The Save Sedona Committee filed the initiative with the city clerk’s office on Thursday, May 22. Noonan said the committee is awaiting clarification from the Secretary of State’s office on which form to use for collecting signatures to begin the collection process, and that proponents plan to collect signatures through November or December, with the goal of placing the initiative on the ballot for next July’s primary election.

P&Z Public Comment

Several residents spoke against the city’s proposed plans for the Cultural Park during the meeting.

“Sedona’s population is forecast to grow by 395 persons over the next 10 years,” said William Spring, referring to the city’s housing needs assessment. “The reality is, population 2020 Sedona, 10,328; 2024 most recent, 9,740. We have lost 588 residents.”

“Five hundred units of additional multi-family would be 25 years’ of demand to fill,” Spring added. “The city has approved already four projects totaling 182 units — an additional five years’ supply of demand.” He suggested that developers would have to market to Cottonwood.

Mary Byrd of the Fine Art Museum of Sedona called on the commission and city officials to continue dialogue with FAMoS on establishing a permanent location for the museum at the site.

“I would like you to consider making it what the people want,” said Jessica Sierra, wearing her original Cultural Park shirt describing the park as “America’s red rock showplace.” “Is it a showplace to have housing and not culture? … I came here 35 years ago when Sedona used to serve their community. This is not it.”

“I think I’m drinking out of different well water than a lot of the people here,” Robert Koster said. “You look at these places that are just row houses stack by stack by stack — definitely not Sedona. Definitely not part of what we moved here for … Thinking you’re creating culture by giving a half acre, two acres for community, walking paths — you’re not looking at what the picture really is going to look like five, 10, 15 years from now.”

Koster compared the plan to what he’s seen in Irvine, Calif., and the Anthem area of north Phoenix.

“Listen to the community,” Koster added. “We’ve been multiple times up to these sessions, and it’s almost like we’re not listened to. ‘Oh, we’ll have another session to see if we get a different vote.’”

“That particular property is something for all of us, not this,” Kathy Howe said. “I’m hoping you will turn this down and realize myself and others will be circulating the initiative. We will be working hard to find out to find out what Sedonans really want. I think they want the Cultural Park.”

“I feel like I fell asleep and I woke up and I saw this project and I thought, this is not Sedona, this is not the voice of Sedona,” said Greg Kirkham, a former principal of West Sedona School. “My very first year here as principal, I held the state championships for Odyssey of the Mind. We collaborated with Yavapai College, we had over 5,000 people attend, we did our awards ceremony at the Cultural Park … I see your job as trying to preserve it. We’ve had so much taken away.”

No one spoke in favor of the proposed new master plan.